What Doesn't Kill You
by WalkingPotterGirl14
Summary: What if Sophia wasn't bit, just disappeared? British girl, Victoria, finds that Sophia can't remember anything of her past life besides her age and her name after taking a fall to the ground and hurting her head. Over the next two years, Sophia becomes Victoria's protege. But when new faces-or, rather old ones-come into the picture, it sends these two girl's lives out of control.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story that I just thought of and had to get it down. So bare with me here. It's my first time writing something like this kind of story.**

* * *

**(in the past)**

She had found her on a Sunday.

At least that was what she thought. Victoria never thought that when she was in the forest one day she would find a living kid. Most of everything now was either dead or walking on the earth dead. She rarely saw life except for her small group.

Her friends had been vacationing when the shit hit the fan and everything went downhill. For the first few months of the apocalypse, she was with them at all times. They were her family, and had been like that since she was a little kid. And they always would be. She would do anything in her lfie to protect her family. Her little sister, her best friends, and most importantly, her dog.

Yes, she cared about her dog the most.

Then there was Jane.

Ok, so there was one thing she cared for more than her dog. Jane was one of the only things from her past life that was still alive. Her little girl was her world, and she would do anything to protect her from getting killed or screwed up in this new cruel world.

But the dog was still very much high on her list.

But that was before she met this little girl. The group had just planned on going back home to NYC to get to one of the safe zones and to see her other friends again, just to see if they were alive or dead. She needed to know. But before they left, they needed to get food for the road. And Vicky was helping the men because half the time all they brought back was small animals. Being raised in the environment she grew up in, she knew how to hunt. And she also wanted to make them feel like fools. She hadn't had the chance to show them up in a long time.

When she comes across a small area filled with cliffs and plenty of places to trip, she made sure to keep her distance and to be careful around it. Looking into the distance, she could make out a few lurkers around the area, but they weren't coming towards her. They were going towards something else. Walking closer, paying mind to stay quiet behind them, she notices that they were circling around a little girl, unconscious, and passed out on the floor.

Going into survivor mode, Victoria snuck up behind the lurkers and quietly took them out, making sure to keep the bodies away from the passed out girl on the ground. When they were long gone, she kicks them to the side and leans down to examine her. And she cringes when she sees her head had a small gash and it was bleeding steadily.

'She must have tripped from running away from these things,' she thought, looking back at the dead lurkers on the ground. 'Wonder where her parents are,' she thought bitterly. This girl was probably an orphan right now if she was out here all by herself.

By the looks of it, she looked to be about 12, maybe 13. Around that age. Victoria sighs. 'I can't just leave her here,' she thought. Reaching out her arms, she scoops up the girl, surprised by how light she was. 'Must not have had a real meal in decades,' she thought. She looks down and notices that her shirt was torn and was exposing a little of her stomach, while her pants were ripped and she only had one shoe, with adorned her right foot. 'She needs new clothes too.'

Looking at her body quickly, she makes sure there were no bites or scratches from the lurkers on her skin, and thank God she was clean. Just a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious that they couldn't handle. The only bad thing was the gash. Taking out one of the cloths in her pocket, she places it firmly against the girls head where the gash was so the bleeding could at least slow it's pace. This little girl was alive and Victoria wasn't about to let her die yet.

When she got back to the small train station that her group was staying, she sees that two men, Emmett and Nick, were skinning a large stag. When they see her step in, there are a mixture of emotions on the two man's faces. Emmett places his hands on his hip and looks at the little girl concerned, while Nick just smirks cockily.

"We bring back actual food to eat, and you bring back a girl? Do we get to eat her?" he teases. Victoria glares at him.

"Fuck you, Nick. She's hurt. Emmett, where's my sister?" she asks. He waves his arm in the direction of train they had been fixing up to take up to New York, where they had lived before all of this. She had gotten a call from one of her friends there that there was a safe zone in the city. And she was intedning to go back and get her family and friends there safely. Back home.

But now she had this girl to fix up and find her family, or group. That would have to wait a while.

"In there. Where did you find her, sharkie?" he asks, using the nickname plenty of people used on her. She sighs.

"Passed out and almost eaten. I'm gonna get her fixed up and see if I can find her group, or her parents. Sammie needs to do some stitches," she mumbles, heading up onto the platform and stepping into the train, closing the door behind her, while trying to keep a steady grip on the small girl. "Sammie! Mike! I need your help!" she screamed. Almost immediately, the two come bumbling into the room, panic on their faces. When they see the little girl, Sammie comes closer.

"What happened to her?" Sammie asks, taking her out of Victoria's arms and removing the cloth from the girls head, examining the gash that had slowed down a bit.

"Where did you find her?" Mike asks. Victoria sighs.

"Found her past out, but right now all we need to do is get her fixed up. If that gash doesn't get stitches soon, it's going to kill her. Lay her down on one of the beds in the compartment and get her healed." Sammie nods and heads into the bedroom car. Time to fix up this girl.

* * *

Victoria sat next to Sammie as she finished up her bandaging around the little girls head. She sighs and places her hands in her lap. "I think she'll be ok. I got to go and talk to Emmett about getting this train started soon. What are we doing about this girl?" she asks. Vicky shrugs.

"I honestly don't know. I was going to help her find her group because there is no way that this little girl has been alone. But I think-" She was interrupted by the sound of a small moan. Victoria and Sammie look over to see the little girl waking up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She looks around, glazed over, trying to see where she was. When she sees the two girls, she rubs her eyes.

"Where am I?" she asks sleepily. "What happened?" Victoria smiles.

"You hurt yourself and passed out, sweetie. Got a big gash on your head, but we fixed that up and it's it stitches now, so you'll be a lot better. Thanks to this wonderful girl right here," she says, pointing to her little sister.

"Thank you," the girls says quietly. Sammie smiles at her.

"You're very welcome, little girl. I don't think we know your name," she asks. The little girl furrows her brow and seems to think hard. It took a straight minture for her to reply.

"So…Sophia," she states. Sammie and Victoria share a look quickly before turning back to the girl.

"I'm Samantha," Sammie says. "But most people call me Sammie. And this is my older sister Victoria, but most people call her Vicky." Both girls smile at the little girl so she wouldn't feel threatened in this new situation.

"Or sharkie," they hear from the doorway. Victoria and Sammie look behind then and chuckle to see Mike standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. "A lot call her sharkie," he says, stepping away.

"Why sharkie?" she asks. Victoria chuckles.

"Because I have very sharp teeth," she states, opening up her mouth slightly so the girl could look. Sophia looks inside and sees that the teeth in her back were slightly pointed, like a sharks. That was something she didn't see everyday.

"Whoa," she says amazed. "That's really cool." Victoria chuckles.

"How old are you Sophia?" she asks. She thinks again for a second.

"13," she states. Victoria nods. She knew she was around that age.

"Can you tell me exactly why you were out there all alone?" Sophia looks down and had that same look on her face that she ahd when she was trying to remember her name. She looks back up, shaking her head.

"No," she replies. "I don't really know." Victoria sighs.

"Were you with a group? Your parents?" Sophia shakes her head.

"I…I can't remember anything. All I remember was getting chased by those…things and everything else is a blur." Victoria and Sammie share a concerned look.

"What about your mother?" Sammie asks, the question burning on her lips. This was the one question that usually settled the deal. "Do you remember what she looks like?" she adds on. Sophia shakes her head.

"I don't even remember her," she says quietly. Sammie sighs and pulls Victoria off to the side so she could speak privately with her for a second.

"She doesn't remember anything, does she?" Victoria asks. Sammie nods.

"Amnesia. Bad case. Usually when you can't remember what your family looks like, that memory isn't coming back anytime soon. She must have hit her head hard. What do we do, Vicky?" she asks. Victoria looks back at the girl, and then back at her sister.

"It's pointless to find anyone because she can't remember shit. And we're not sending a 13 year old girl into the world to defend for herself. We'll take her with us." Sammie looked skeptical.

"Vicky-"

"I'll take care of her. Train her. I already have Jane. I can keep her safe. We're already heading up north." Sammie sighs, shaking her head.

"This is crazy, but fine." Victoria smiles at her and then walks back to Sophia, who was looking around the train compartment.

"Is this a train?" she asks. Victoria nods.

"We've been fixing it up so we could take it up north to the safe zone in New York. Got a call from my sister that it's still up and running. We finally got this train working and it's going to take us right up to Penn Station." Sophia tips her head.

"You have a funny accent," she says. Both Sammie and Victoria laugh. She was commenting on her British accent. After all, the girls had grown up in England and had moved to New York for a real college experience when Vicky was 18 and Sammie was 17. They guessed the accent never left them after everything that they had been through.

"That's because my sister and I are from England. We moved her a long time ago, though. But, since it seems like you have no group, would you like to come with us to the safe zone?" The girl nods profusely, but then stops and holds it as throbbing pain sears through it.

"Ow," she whimpers, holding her head in her hands. Victoria chuckles and rubs her head gently.

"Don't do that, sweetie," she chuckles. "We'll be happy to keep you with us. But right now you need to rest. Sammie and I are going to go talk with the rest of the group. But don't be surprised when you wake up if this train is moving. We'll be getting going soon." Sophia nods, a small smile on her face.

"Great," she replies. Victoria smiles and gets up.

"Come on, Sam," she states, using her nickname for her sister. The two walk to the door, and Sammie walks through the way, while Victoria looks back and points at the pillow. "Sleep. You'll need it." She offers one last smile and leaves the compartment, shutting the door behind her.

And that's when all of this started.

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**A/N: And that's a wrap. Thanks for reading and you're all awesome! 3 :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, honestly, I wasn't expecting to get that many followers that quickly. Thanks! On with the story!**

* * *

**(Present)**

"Nick, can I ask you a favor?" Victoria asks Nick later that day. Granted, she and Nick had never really gotten along that well before all of this, but when the world went to shit, they learned to cooperate with each other and ended up becoming friends. Who'd have thought that would happen. The man turns to her and rolls his eyes.

"What now, sharkie?" he asks, going back to reading the comic he had found the other day while on a run to the stores downtown. Victoria rolls her eyes and sits next to him in the lawn chair that was set up in Grand Central Terminal. Right now, they were just sitting around and people watching.

The safe zone had been what it was, safe. When they took the train up here, it was well protected, but after a month, it started to fall slowly. More and more lurkers had started to get in, and they almost lost it once, but then Victoria, Sammie, and Mike stood up to plate and came up with ways to secure the area around them.

The safe zone stretched from Grand Central to Time Square, and then went down to Broadway, down that street, then turned right back into the area of Grand Central. Plenty of people stayed in the apartments in between for shelter, and then they would raid some shops that were in Time Square, or head out of the zone for a little while to get real food by using planks to travel from building to building.

When they wanted to have fun, they would simply just travel around the safe zone. Broadway was packed with stages and areas to hang around in, and then there were the many shops that still had clothes. The amount of people still left in the safe zone was around 200, but they had plenty of space for more. But Vicky always thought that the smaller the community the better, because it meant less food to get and more time to relax rather then watch over more people.

The officers had to admit, they were surprised that three British people had come up with a plan to secure New York City. So they let them in as head officers for the safe zone, and now most of the decisions had to be run by with her or Sammie or Mike. Right now, though. Most didn't want to go out at all, but that was why Victoria was there in the first place to talk to Nick. But first, she had to tease him.

"Wow, you're really reading that comic?" she asks, pointing to the small Spiderman comic. "Guess we're back in junior high." He snorts and places the comic down on his lap and fully faces her.

"Ok, what's up? You don't just usually come over here and just voluntarily sit down with me." She chuckles at him and takes a deep breath.

"Well, I just need to get some food, but Jeremy told me I can't go out with this busted up ankle, sadly," she says, gesturing down to her wrapped up ankles. The other day she had tripped and fallen on her ankle the wrong way when she was running back to the safe zone to get away from some lurkers who had learned how to run. And it was something she did not want to see again. But she needed more food for her apartment and for her family, so she needed someone to go out and get some. "So I was wondering if you could go and get some for my family. I'll do anything, please? I can't go out but I really need to food!" Nick looks slyly at her.

"Anything?" he chuckles. She's silent for a second before sending him a look and rolling her eyes, shaking her head as well.

"You have such a sexual mind," she mumbles. "I'm not going to have sex with you, if that's what you want, but anything else, I will do. Please," she says. Nick sighs, chuckling to himself.

"I don't need anything in return. You've gone out plenty of times. You deserve a break. But expect a mouthful when I get back," he replies, standing up and throwing the comic to the side. She smiles and gets up as well.

"Thanks, Nick. It means a lot. Just remember to tell-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Tell Adam. God knows he'll blow a gasket if I don't. Already pops a molly if we even think about going outside the safe zone without permission," he chuckles. Victoria laughs, nodding her head.

"Very true," she states, walking with him out to the streets and looking around. Nick was about to leave when he turns to Victoria again.

"Where you going?" he asks. She laughs again.

"I got to head down to Belmoint to get Soph, Lexi, and Jane. All went down to the theater to hang with the kids. I have to bring them back to work on their shooting skills." Nick shrugs.

"Just make sure you don't walk in on some sort of performance or some shit like that. You know Leki gets mad if you do that." Victoria snorts.

"I'm the older woman here, Nick," she states, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "By the way, have you seen Emmett?" she asks. Nick snorts.

"I think he's off with Essie, fucking her or some shit like that." Victoria's eyes widen at his comment, and he laughs, walking off to go tell the officers. They had found Essie a few months ago huddled in a store corner, skinny and starving. They had brought her back and nursed her back to health. And Victoria had seen an instant connection between Emmett and her. She just didn't think it would have happened that soon.

Starting to walk down the street, gun in hand just in case, she was greeted by a bunch of people she knew. They all waved or said good afternoon. They all smiled at her. Vicky was one of the well known people around the safe zone. Everyone knew who she was. If you didn't, you were deaf. The same with Sammie and Mike. They kept the place safe with their ideas, and everyone loved them for it.

But there was one guy that Victoria could not stand, and he was walking towards her at that very moment. He smiles that devilish smile at her, and she feels her skin crawl. "Hey Bennett," he says, addressing her by her last name.

Max. Max Burner. He was the biggest asshole she had ever met in her life. Not only was he hot headed and stubborn, and always a dick to everyone, well, almost everyone, and conceited as hell, he was, for some reason, completely infatuated with her. And she couldn't stand it. She hated him so much, but he just wouldn't get the message. He would grab her butt, use bad pick up lines on her, and say really cocky things about himself that he thought was attractive. But she just thought he was a dick. Literally. Her mother always told her that guys who had bad attitudes often had small dicks, while guys with good ones had huge. But she had never really used that until she met Max.

"Hello, Max," she says calmly, walking a bit faster towards the stage where the girls were. But he didn't get the message again and followed her.

"Where you going, brit?" he asks. She sighs angrily and takes a deep breath.

"Just to get the girls and bring them back for target practice," she says, crossing her arms. He chuckles and looks at his gun.

"Ah, guns. I love you how trained Sophia with the bow and arrow first, then knives, and finally the gun. Why wouldn't you do the gun first?" She growls.

"I don't know, Max. She wanted to learn!" she grumbles, walking even faster towards her goal to the theater. She could see it just around the corner. Almost there.

"Well, I think that you would do well cleaning my gun," he replies, a but lowly to her, but all she does is snort, and shake her head.

"That was terrible," she says back, now arriving at the edge of the theater and going for the door. "the only time you'll ever fuck me is in your dreams. And even then, I really don't want to be there. You're not getting any of this," she says, pointing to her body. "Especially with those pick up lines. So just give up already." She steps into the theater entrance and slams the door behind her, without another word to Max.

She sighs happily and goes to the door that led into the theater and listens closely, smiling when she hears the girls singing quietly. They loved coming down here to let stress out and have fun. She hears them signing one of the songs she had taught them in the past year. They had never heard any of The Beatles songs and she had to teach them. She listens even closer and hears Lexi start to sing.

She hears her start to sing 'Hey Jude' one of the songs Victoria had come to know and love. It was one of her favorite songs when she was younger. She hears all of the girls soon join in, and Vocky couldn't keep the smile of her face. But she had to bring them back to practice.

She opens the door and claps her hands, startling the girls. Her eyes travel to a little girl in the front, six years old, brown hair and blue eyes, who smiles at runs up to her mother. "Mama!" she yells. Victoria chuckles and takes her up in her arms.

"Hey, Jane," she replies. She looks back to the group on the stage and walks forward. "You guys sounded great. Too bad Broadway isn't still around. Could have all been in a show," she states, her eyes traveling to the two girls in the front of the rest.

One of them had black curly hair and green eyes, with tan skin. She was wearing a long sleeve red tank top with black jeans and black converse. And she was sitting on the edge of the stage, one foot crossed over the other, her hands in her lap. This was Lexi and she was chuckling.

"I think we have. Still need to work out a few notes," she replies, looking at the girl next to her. Victoria's eyes travel to the girl and smile. She had dark blonde hair that reached the bottom of her shoulder blades, and brown eyes. She wore a black tank top with a black vest over it, and blue skinny jeans, with black military boots on her feet. If Victoria was wearing her vest, they would have practically been twins. She looked so much like her now. Then again, Sophia was basically her little protégé.

Sophia wasn't her daughter, but she was as close as a daughter could be. She would be 16 soon, now 15, and she was able to handle herself, but Victoria acted as her surrogate mother and caretaker. And she loved her because she was so sweet. Even if she couldn't remember her past still. That fall had really taken its toll. Two years and not a single memory.

"That's true," Sophia concludes, stepping off the stage. "But I think it's time for training, Lexi. We gotta go," she says. Lexi sighs and nods, jumping off the stage.

"Sorry guys. Duty calls." Some of the girls sigh while a few giggle, causing Lexi to roll her eyes. "Children," she mumbles, shaking her head.

"Let's get going," Sophia says, heading for the door to get to Grand Central. Victoria chuckle and follows her out.

* * *

"Ok, that's very good aim, Lex," she says, helping Lexi with the aim of the gun. "But you have to remember to take a breath before, otherwise, you'll just jump and lose your aim completely. It always helps. Trust me. You too Soph," she says, looking at Sophia. She nods.

"Deep breath. Got it," she replies. Victoria steps back and leans against the wall.

"When I say shoot, shoot," she replies, getting a nod from both girls. She looks at the dummies of the lurkers and chuckles slightly. They had actually made them look like one of them, but instead it had a ton of bullet holes inside of it. "Shoot."

Both shoot and it lands right in the forehead. Victoria smiles and pats the two on the back. "Nice work, girls," she says, smiling at the two. When she looks at them, she can't help but notice how close the two are. Both seemed to be best friends, always around. They had found Lexi a year ago, and the two were automatic friends. That, and they were the same age.

"Thanks, Vicky," Lexi states.

"I call her sharkie," Sophia replies. Victoria rolls her eyes at the two.

"Just don't end up calling me Tori. I hate that name." Sophia looks at her slyly.

"I might just have to start doing that soon," Sophia says. Victoria sends her a playful glare and shakes her head.

"You start calling me that I'm not taking you out on runs anymore." Sophia was about to reply when she suddenly sees Mike, Sammie, Punz, who was Victoria's friend who had brought them here, and a few other men. They come rushing over to the practice area and to Victoria.

"There are people coming down the train tracks," Mike says. "We need to get to them." Victoria nods quickly and looks to the girls.

"Time to show your skills. Come on," she states, gesturing her head towards the staircase, walking over. Sophia and Lexi follow her, and when they reach the bottom, Sammie and Punz turn around and palce a finger to their lips and a finger to their ears. Victoria listens closely and she could hear the distant sound of people talking and getting onto the platform.

"We sneak up," Mike whispers. Everyone else agrees. Victoria turns to the two girls.

"Stay close to me." Both nod and they go forward to see who the new people were and if they seemed threatening. Mike raises his hands from behind a pillar. He counts slowly to three, and all of them jump out from behind, pointing their weapons at the new people.

"Stop where you are," Mike says. Victoria was a few yards away from her, and the girls were right behind her. The new people aim some of their weapons at them, but a few eyes travel to the blonde girl behind Victoria, and a few people gasp. Sophia backs up a bit, feeling uncomfortable with their stares. She had no clue who these people were and they seemed to know her.

One woman tries to take a step forward but Victoria aims her gun at her. "We said don't move," she growls, trying to get her point across. The woman stops, but still stares at Sophia, tears streaming down her face. She had short gray hair and baggy clothes. Sophia backs behind Victoria at the strange woman.

"Sophia?" she cries. Victoria's brow furrows as the woman takes another step. "My baby," she cries again, coming closer, but now Sophia cocks her gun at her, startling the woman.

"Back off," she says. "I don't know how you know my name but I don't know you," she states. Victoria looks down at the girl and back at them. Everyone seemed shocked, especially the gray haired woman.

"She doesn't remember," she whispers, tears streaming down her face.

* * *

**A/N: Gonna end that chapter here. Don't worry, Carol will be taken care of and all that. I have a plan XD Thanks for reading and reviews would help :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the new followers and review! It really means a lot to see that. I've been trying to figure out how to execute this chapter and I'm slowly figuring it out, so stay with me on this or just go with the flow, because I need to take this nice and slow. This continues from where the last chapter left off.**

* * *

The group stared in shock and surprise at the little girl-no, teenage girl- in front of them. When they had lost her on the highway, they had searched so hard to find her, even Daryl finding her doll in the creak that nearly got him killed. But when they saw a walker come out of the barn that had a piece of Sophia' s shirt in his hands, they were positive she was long gone. She had been eaten and was gone. But here she was.

Daryl was shocked the most. He, after all, had been the one looking the most for this girl, and he sincerely thought he had fucked up and been too long, and she had been dead. But here she was, alive and standing, and looked a whole lot different than how she was two years ago. Most of the group was thinking that, but when they heard her say 'Back off' to her own mother, they were evne more shocked.

She didn't remember anything. She lost all her memories.

Daryl looked at the woman who was blocking Sophia from the others. She had dark brown curly hair that fell in waves to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and dark blue eyes, much darker then his own. She was wearing a black tank top with jeans and boots on her feet, keeping her gun pointed at Carol, who was looking at Sophia with a sad expression.

By the way that she was standing in front of Sophia, Daryl knew that this must have been the person who saved her. He noticed another girl next to Sophia, who was looking at the group with a confused expression on her face. She looked around the same age as Sophia, maybe a year older. She leans over to Sophia.

"Do you know these people?" Lexi mutters into Sophia's ear. Sophia shakes her head, not taking her eyes off the new people.

"Not at all," she replies. Victoria looks back at Sophia and back at the group. Suddenly, it clicks. This must have been Sophia's mother. She looked nothing like her at all. But by the way she was acting, she had a feeling this was her.

"There has to be some way to make her remember," the woman cried desperately. She looks at the girl in front of Sophia. "Please. I'm her mother-"

"No you're not!" Sophia interrupts. "I've never even had a mom, or anything like that until Victoria found me!" she yells. Victoria looks back at Sophia and gives her a look, telling her to be quiet. Sophia sighs and looks down, nodding her head. Victoria looks back up at some of the men in the room and nods up the stairs.

"Take these two back to the apartment," she states. "We're going to have a little chat with these people and see what's wrong." Sophia looks at Lexi annoyed but follows the men who lead her up the stairs and back to the main floor of Grand Central to go back to their home. But the woman pursues the girl, running up.

"Sophia!" she yells. Sophia sees this and grabs Lexi's hand, running up the stairs, away from the crazy woman who said she was her mother, while some of the men held the woman back from going up the stairs. Lexi looks back amused.

"Jesus, what is up with her?" Lexi asks her. Sophia shrugs her shoulders.

"No clue, all I know is that she is insane," she replies, following the men and away from these people. While back down on the tracks, the men were struggling to keep her at bay.

"Let me go! That's my daughter!" she screams, trying to get through. The men from her group come forward and pull her back, and Victoria notices one of them looked like the typical redneck that all her friends had talked about in college. But he actually looked a lot more handsome then she thought they would look like. He holds the woman back.

"Carol, if ya haven't noticed, ya're daughter doesn't remember ya right now," he says roughly, holding her from attacking the men to get through. Mike steps up.

"Ma'am, we can have a nice calm discussion about this in our meeting room upstairs. If we can't handle that, then we're afraid we might have to ask you to leave," he states. A man with a beard that really needed to be shaved and curly dark brown short hair comes up.

"We're sorry about her. But we can handle that. It's just a huge surprise to see her after all this time. We thought she was-"

"Dead?" Victoria asks harshly, attracting the attention of some of the people in the group. She sighs. "We have a lot of explaining to do," she mumbles, going to the stairs and looking at Sammie, shaking her head. "**A lot**. Someone kill me." She runs up the stairs, Sammie behind her.

"Sharkie, stop being a prude," the people hear from the tracks as they went up the stairs. As much as the situation they were in fazed him, the one thought that went through his head was the girls nickname. Why the hell was her nickname 'sharkie?'

* * *

Victoria sat near the edge of the room, her feet kicked up on the table, arms crossed on her chest as she listened to the groups story and what they had been through to get up to the safe zone. Personally, she thought they were kind of stupid. The safe zone had been around since the beginning of all of this, and they chose now to come? But she couldn't help but feel bad when they would talk about the people they lost or the people they've met that had been crazy. She didn't even know what to say when they said the story of the Governor, a crazy man who had destroyed the place that they called home for a small while. But that was one of the only times she felt bad.

Her eyes would flicker to see the faces of these people. First off, she noticed the gray haired woman. Carol was her name. She was looking down at the table she was sitting at, sulking that she wasn't able to see Sophia, even if Sophia didn't even know who the hell she was. She saw one of the leaders, Rick, and he seemed to be a level headed man, and then to some of the other people.

Next to Rick was a boy that looked to be Sophia's age, maybe younger, Carl. He looked skeptical at the place, but the look he had on his face when he saw Sophia did not slip her mind, and she could tell that he was happy to see her, but then he found out she couldn't remember anything from before. There was a couple standing off to the side, Glenn and Maggie, and then there was a girl that looked to be around twenty, Beth, and her and Maggie's father, Hershel. Both seemed to be very nice. She saw that the girl had a small baby in her arms that she was feeding.

Next to them were the two siblings, Sasha and Tyreese, and then another man named Bob, all people of color. Victoria had never had a thing against black people, but a lot of bad experiences were with them. But these people seem harmless enough for her.

Her eyes would then rest on the crossbow man, as she called him at first. She learned his name was Daryl, first Daryl she had ever met in her life, and he was already making a good impression on her. For some reason, she liked his style, the way he talked and negotiated with the men of her group, with Mike and Sammie. He was like Rick, level headed, but a lot more handsome then she thought Rick was. She was allowed to think those thoughts, and damn were thy good.

When they ended up finally figuring out living arrangements and all that, Rick and Mike exchange a look of leadership. "We can't thank you enough for letting us stay here," Rick states. Mike just waves his hand dismissively.

"It's fine. We just needed to make sure that you weren't a threat. We've come across people that are like that and we need to protect the zone, you know? Have to keep it safe," he states. "Don't need to be taking in a bunch of loonies," he chuckles. Rick nods.

"I get that. It's still a great favor though. Out on the road, it's tough," he says. Mike nods.

"I can tell," he concludes. Sammie walks up to him and places her hand on the table.

"We were rarely even on the road. We were vacationing down south when all of this happened and we needed to get back here to see out family and get here safely. We were stationed for a month at an old train station and fixed up a train that took us right into Penn Station." The group looked at them impressed.

"Ya fixed up a train?" Daryl asks, pretty amazed they were able to do that. Sammie chuckles and looks to Victoria.

"She did," she says, pointing to Victoria. All heads turned to her and she sunk down in her seat under everyone's intense stare at her. She didn't like being the center of attention. Only when had been performing before the world went crazy did she like that.

"Guilty as charged?" she states, lifting up her hands in a harmless motion. Sammie chuckles, going next to her sister and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This girl, she is full of plenty of talent. Not to mention she's a pretty badass hunter," she states. This catches Daryl's attention. Mike laughs, coming over as well.

"She showed up plenty of guys when we were out in the forest all the time," he praises. Victoria could feel herself shrinking down in her seat. She appreciated the compliments, but she wasn't used to all the attention she was getting.

"Ya hunt?" Daryl asks her. Victoria tried to reply, but Sammie beat her to it.

"The best," she states. "Been doing it since we were little in London," she chuckles, but Victoria stands up and shakes her head.

"Ok, I think that's enough about me," she states, chuckling at her sister and her friend. Carol looks up from the table and glares at the woman, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I agree," she says acidly, causing Victoria to glance over at her and look at her confused. It wasn't like she meant for them to talk. They just did. "What I want to know is why the hell my daughter doesn't remember any of us!" she hisses. Sammie steps up to calm her down, but Victoria places a hand out and shakes her head. She looks back at Carol.

"Are you sure she's yours?" she asks, and that seemed to set Carol over the edge.

"Of course I know it's her, you stupid bitch," she yells, causing a lot of people to gasp and glare at her while Victoria just makes a face amusement, shaking her head.

"Ok, calm down. We have an explanation," she chuckles, placing her hands on her hips. "I found Sophia passed out and bleeding on the ground in an area filled with cliffs and places to trip, and a few lurkers were about to bite her. I took them out, brought her back to our camp, and stitched up the gash that was on her head. When she woke up, she didn't remember anything but her name and her age. That's it. She had amnesia, still does, and she can't remember anything from her past. As far as she knows, she thinks she never had a real mother to take care of her until…well; I came along and took her back. And it seems that even seeing people that appear to be in her past doesn't help it at all. She hit her head hard," she concludes.

"Well, there has to be some way we can get it back!" Carol says, jumping up from her chair. Rick gives her a warning look.

"Carol-" he starts, but she glares at him

"Rick, that is my daughter!" she yells. "If this girl is so amazing, she can come up with something!" she spits out, coming up to Victoria. "Right? You're smart?" she says sarcastically. Victoria raises an eyebrow and puts her hand on her shoulder, pushing her back a few feet, while Carol glares at her.

"First thing," Victoria says, sticking up a finger. "Personal space. Don't get all up in my face. Second, can the bitchy attitude. It's not my fault that you lost your daughter and she got hurt. I'm just the one taking care of her. And third, we'll see what we can do about trying to get back her memory, but the chances are very slim. It's been two years, and not a single one has come back. Maybe because you're here they will come back, but it's still rare. We'll try though. Now," she says, walking towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to Nick. I'm pretty sure he's back by now."

"Oh, tell him to meet me outside of Grand Central! Going to talk to him!" she yells after her. Victoria waves her hand at her.

"Will do!" she replies, not looking back at the group that was bound to be staring at her. She was not looking forward to talking to this Carol person.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and the new followers! Reviews always help! Hope you enjoyed! And let me get a few things straight.**

**1. Hershel didn't get killed by the Governor**

**2. Carol didn't kill Karen and David, but she's still slightly not right in the head.**

**There you go!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: omg as I'm starting this chapter, fucking fanfiction isn't working at the moment XD Obviously when this is posted it will be but for now it just frustrates me. And thanks to all the new follows, favorites, and reviews! It means a lot that people are enjoying the story and are letting me know what they think. And to the person who said that Carol was a bit out of character, I wanted to make her that way. She thought her daughter was dead for more than a year, only to find her safe and sound, and expecting a joyful reunion, gets a gun pointed to her face and her daughter saying she doesn't know her at all, only to have another woman protecting her when she should be. **

**I think that would make someone a little pissy XD I know it would for me.**

**Ok, so now that I got that out of the way, let's get on with this chapter!**

* * *

"When the hell did we get newcomers?" Nick mutters to Victoria as they dig through one of the giant piles of supplies to give to Jeremy, the main leader next to them at the safe zone. Victoria shrugs her shoulders.

"This IS a safe zone, Nick. And they were looking for refuge. But apparently Sophia is Carol's daughter," she replies. Nick snorts, taking a can of soup and putting it in his bag.

"She could just be some crazy bitch or something like that," he questions, causing Vicky to laugh, her shoulders shaking.

"Well, she's not the only one who thinks it, because apparently most of the group recognizes who she is, even though she looks totally different from two years ago. At first, I found it hard to believe, but I guess it's true because I don't think they would know her name if they didn't know who she was." Nick sighs, shaking his head and looking out the window. He could see the group in the distance. It had been a day since they got here, but he still didn't know who the hell they were. He motions his hand over to the window.

"Come here and show me who the hell these people are," he states. Victoria snickers and grabs a box of old cookies, then walks over to the window where Nick was looking out. She knew Sophia would be hungry when she got back from practice. The kids had a small school system within the safe zone. It wasn't math and English, it was survival, to protect themselves, and right now Sophia was in it. And Victoria thought she was teaching some little kids how to use a knife correctly.

"Ok, let's see," she mumbles looking out the window. "That's Rick Grimes, and his son , Carl. And the baby in the older girls arms? That's Judith. They're all a family, not including the girl." Nick furrows his brow.

"Then who the hell is she?"

"That's Beth, and there's her sister Maggie, her father Hershel, and Maggie's boyfriend, Glenn. They all seem ok. They're the Greene's." She looks to the right. "There's Tyreese and Sasha, siblings, and they're friend Bob. Then there's Carol, we already know her," she chuckles, to which Nick snorts. Vicky's eyes travel to the last person she could see from the group. "And that, would be Mr. Daryl Dixon," she says with a sigh. Nick chuckles, looking at her.

"You have a crush on the redneck?" he teases. She simply rolls her eyes and punches his shoulder, to which he chuckles.

"I don't have a crush on him," she states. 'At least I think I don't,' she chuckles in her head. "He just has nice arms," she states. Nick snorts.

"You so like him," he chuckles. She goes over and points outside.

"Look at his arms!" she yells at him. Nick rolls his eyes and walks over.

"I really don't see the big dea-Wow, those are huge," he states, causing Vicky to cross her arms over her chest triumphantly.

"See? Told you," she replies. Nick looks back at her with a cheeky grin on his face. "What?" she asks suspiciously.

"He also has big hands, and you know what they say. Guys with big hands have big di-" She slaps her hand over his mouth, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"You finish that sentence I will beat your arse into the ground," she growls. He simply chuckles and takes her hand off his mouth.

"Let's just bring the supplies back," he chuckles, going back to the pile. Victoria rolls her eyes and follows him. He better not repeat that sentence.

* * *

Laughter could be heard throughout the building that Carl was exploring later the next day. The other people had told him that this was the building they had school in, some sort of protection school to keep the kids safe. It was his father's option to put him in there, but most kids usually did it. But by the sounds he was hearing, there wasn't any practicing happening at the moment.

He follows the voices and sees that there is a huge group of kids, around his age, maybe a few older and a few younger, and he notices two of them sitting on the desk that was in the corner of the room they were all in. One was the girl who was next to Sophia the other day. He had heard her name was Alexandra, but people called her Lexi. Pretty typical. And the girl next to her was Sophia.

He had to admit, from the last time he saw her, she was_ very_ different. She was fifteen now, at least that's what he heard, and she was more developed then when he saw her last. Looked more like teenager then when she did when she was thirteen. She had longer hair, that reached just below her shoulder blades, straight. It was tied back in a loose ponytail. She also wore different clothes. Last time, she had worn Capri's and a shirt that just didn't look fit for a 13 year old. Now, she actually looked like one. She had jeans and a tank top, with a denim jacket on, and black boots. She actually looked her age rather than when she was 13. She looked older.

But there was also something different about her that surprised him. Deep down, he thought that if the ever did somehow find her, she would be the same fragile girl that had been lost to the world, even though he knew at the time they wouldn't find her. But now they did find her, and God how she was different.

She was strong, independent, and had that air around her that seemed like she didn't stand for anyone's shit. She had grown up, just as he had. But he also knew that part of the reason is that she didn't remember anything after her fall. Became a whole new person because she didn't even know who the hell she was before hand. She just followed Victoria around and probably copied her. And from the looks of it, it seemed to be a good idea, because Victoria looked like she could kick ass.

He attempts to move forward to listen further to what the kids were talking about, leaning closer to the door. He hears them laughing, and then he hears Lexi's voice pop us through the laughter.

"Ok, ok!" she says, waving her hands in the air to get people's attention. "We just got new people yesterday…what do you think?" A few people laugh, while a few snort.

"Crazy!" One girl says. Another girl nods.

"That woman Carol thinks she's your mom, right Sophia?" she asks. Sophia nods, shaking her head.

"Yup. I don't know what the hell is wrong with her. She's insane. But the other people don't seem so bad," she comments. Lexi nods.

"Rick seems nice, and so does the old man. Has anyone seen the teenager that was with them? Carl? He seems to be our age," she comments. Carl leans a bit closer to hear what they were talking about him. A girl sighs.

"He's cute," she comments, causing Carl to blush deeply. "He makes the long hair look good. Personally, I've never really liked that on a man, but he makes it look pretty cute." Sophia chuckles. "What Sophia? Do you have a crush on him?" she teases. Sophia shakes her head, her cheeks red.

"No, I don't. I'm just saying really all the men have long hair. What about that dude with the crossbow?" A girl sighs dramatically. She sounded to be around 18 by the sound of her voice.

"Daryl!" she coons. "Jesus, have you seen that man? He is the epitome of hotness. Like, I literally could not contain myself when he was around yesterday. Those arms, that hair, and just everything," she concludes, causing Lexi to laugh.

"Hold on sister, I think he's a little too old. How old do you think he is?" Sophia shrugs.

"Maybe 35 or something like that. All I know is that he's too old for you, Lacey," she chuckles. "I mean, there are plenty of guys here that would like to get to know you, if you know what I mean," she says, a mischievous tone in her voice. All of them laugh.

"Shut up, Sophia!" she laughs, shaking her head. "It's not that I don't want to get like, intimate with them. They just act like boys. I want a man." Lexi and Sophia shake their heads, a smile on both of their faces.

"You're crazy," Sophia chuckles. "You're 18. Be happy you're and independent woman. It's more fun." Lexi nods.

"Look at us! We have way more fun without a man," she states. Lacey rolls her eyes. These two girls would be the death of her.

* * *

Victoria was around the area of Grand Central with Sammie, knowing that Sophia was off with Lexi and her friends and Jane was being taken care of by Mike, who needed a day off. But while she was looking through some supplies to ration out, she couldn't take her eyes of the crossbow man. She knew there was some sort of air around him that she liked. He had that whole badass look. She just saw him, sitting on the ground and leaning against the edge of a building, sharpening one of the many knives he had. His hair was all messy, but that just made her even more intrigued by him.

Right now, she was with two of the women from the group he had come with. One was Maggie, who was very nice and seemed to be sweet. By the looks of it, she seemed to be a few years younger then her. And then there was Carol…she had calmed down from yesterday, but Victoria could still tell that she was slightly pissed off.

"How's the moving been going?" Vicky asks Maggie who was helping her. Maggie smiles.

"Glenn and I have finished. Nice places you got here," she states. Vicky smiles.

"I'm glad to hear that," she says, looking to Carol, who still wasn't looking at her. "I wanted to ask you guys…who exactly is that guy?" she says, pointing at Daryl in the distance.

"Daryl. Had a brother before all this, but they weren't similar at all. Brother was a huge asshole. He's actually quite the loner," Maggie says. "But he's still a good man. Has done a lot for the group." Vicky nods.

"He just seems, kind of, alone," she concludes, chuckling slightly. "I'm going to talk with him," she states. Carol finally decides to look up at this.

"You'll probably just bother him," she states. Victoria looks back. She hears the malice in her voice but shrugs her shoulders and goes his way.

When she was just a few steps away from him, he looks up, examining her. She was wearing a white t-shirt and some black denim shorts with some converse, something she hadn't worn in a while. Her long hair was swaying in the wind and she had to remove a piece to go behind her ear from preventing her vision. He raises his eyebrows at her. 'Wow,' she thinks. 'He is handsome.' He had amazing blue eyes, and well defined lips, rounded by an unshaven goatee. He had a strong complexion, and broad shoulders, his arms were strong, awesome muscles. 'Damn, he is one hell of a man.' In front of him on the floor was a crossbow.

"Hey," she says, smiling at him.

"Hi," he responds, looking at her a bit confused.

"Could I have a seat?" she asks, pointing to the floor beside him. He shrugs his shoulders, so I sit down. "You're Daryl, right?"

"Yep," he replies, and turns his head to look at her face. It seemed that he was going to pass her by, go back to his knife as soon as he could, but he kept staring at her, his blue eyes piercing her own as he leaned against the side of the building.

"I'm Victoria," she says, offering him her hand. He look at it, trustless, but shook it strongly. "Wow, you have strong hands." He shrugs his shoulders again, slowly letting go of her hand.

"Yours' soft," he replies. She inclines hr head.

"Thanks, but it's better to have strong ones," she says, looking at the crossbow. "That's the only way you can handle this big thing," she chuckles. He raises an eyebrow at her.

"It's not a thing. It's a crossbow. Ever seen one, Brit?" he asks, indicating to her accent. She chuckles, rolling her eyes.

"Yes I have, redneck," she replies. "Just have never used one. I'm shit at them. Anything else I'm good at, but when it comes to that, I suck major balls." He chuckles a little.

"It has its troubles," he replies. She chuckles. "How did ya even find Sophia anyway?" he asks. She knew someone was bound to ask this question.

"I found her bleeding and passed out, stitched her up, woke up, and found out she didn't rememeber anything, and now Carol is acting like I'm the God damn problem," she grumbles. "I couldn't take her to your group because she didn't even know she had a group in the first place. I feel like she'll stab me in the back or something." He chuckles again. She liked his laugh, it sounded so nice.

"And why on earth is a British girl in New York?" he asks. She smiles.

"I moved here when I was 18 to start a new life with my sister. Life back home in London was getting boring, so we came here and went to college here, got jobs here. Anything that had nothing to do with home. Then I had Jane, and for the next four years of my life, I practically had hell on earth," she chuckles.

"Jane?" he asks, furrowing his brow. She laughs.

"My daughter. Spitting image of me. And my hell on earth is now dead, so that means I can live in peace and harmony." He raises an eyebrow.

"Asshole boyfriend?" he asks softly. She nods, sighing.

"Yup. Wasn't for all of this, I would probably still be under his reign of terror, but everything had been fine since he was gone. I've been surviving, keeping Jane and Sophia safe, as well as Lexi, a girl I found by herself, and just living life as it throws it's shit at me. Literally and figuratively.

"What are ya, some psychological chick?" he asks, almost laughing. She smiles.

"Nope. Just have a lot of thoughts." She takes out a packet of cigarettes and offered one to him. He shrugs his shoulders.

"What the hell?" he asks, taking one and lighting it up. "Didn't think a classy girl like ya're self would be into such things as smoking," he mocks. She snorts, taking a long drag. When she pulls back, she chuckles.

"I'm anything but classy, let's get that straight. And we shouldn't be talking about class when you're the one here right now with the smelly clothes and messed up hair. You remind of a monster that hides under the bed to scare children," she chuckles. He pushes her softly.

"Shut up, woman," he replies. She laughs.

"Kidding," she says. "But I'm not classy. I've been trained since day one to survive this kind of world. Feels nice to finally be using the skills to good use even if it means all of this. Maybe my mom didn't die in vain…" she trails off, the memory of her mother hurting her. It wasn't the time to think about that. "What about you? Any other family then your brother?" He looks at her confused.

"How did ya-"

"Maggie told me. Also told me you're not as big of an asshole as he was apparently. I also heard about the Governor and the prison. No need to worry now, safe zone is safe, unless he somehow followed you up here. Then we have a problem." He snorts.

"I highly doubt that." She smiles.

"Well, I can tell you're a good man," she replies, smiling to herself, and she could slightly see the hint of a smile on his face. "You know how to hunt?" she asks. He nods.

"Been doing it since I was young," he replies. She nods.

"My uncle taught me, but I always end up being too loud," she chuckles. "Maybe you could teach me how to properly hunt," she says to Daryl with an innocent glint in her eyes.

"Maybe," he replies, but she seemed he was trying hard not to smile.

* * *

**A/N: That took me way too long to do. Thanks for reading and the new reviews and followers! So nice and it always feels good! Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the new reviews and followers and favorites! This is amazing that this many people like this story that much! Ok, so in this chapter, we're diving a bit more into Vicky's past life, so don't be surprised by anything or something like that. I'm just excited to be writing something like this. On with the story!**

* * *

"_We'll be fine Jane, I just have to hide you," Victoria whispers to her little three year old. They could hear the banging of Eric when he slammed the door, and then she heard something being knocked over. She couldn't let Jane see what was about to ensue._

"_Mommy, where are we going?" Jane asks worried. Victoria ignores her daughter for a second and tears open one of the hall closet doors, and then puts Jane on the floor. Leaning down and kissing her forehead, she rubs her head._

"_It'll be ok. You just need to stay in here for a little while ok?" she whispers. Vicky hears the breaking of glass and cringes. "Just hum your little melody, ok? It'll keep that sweet smile on your face," she whispers, closing the door and locking it so Eric wouldn't be able to find her. Jane looks at the door confused and then starts to hum a melody under her breath. A few little notes to keep her safe from the monsters._

_Victoria run to the bedroom and locks the door behind her, knowing that Eric is going to try the bedroom first, and takes out the knife that she hid in the bottom of her dresser drawer. She tucks it into her back pocket and waits for the door to burst open. And it did. _

_Eric bangs open the door and storms up to Victoria, his face red with rage, but she kept her poker face on and didn't flinch when he started to yell._

"_What's this I heard about you leaving?" he spits at her. She doesn't flinch or step away. Just keeps his gaze so she would look strong. She didn't want to look like a coward in front of him._

"_I'm leaving this house with Jane and I'm leaving you. I'm not standing another day with you or your fucked up life," she hisses. His eyes glare at her and he throws her against the wall. That's when she cringes and flinches a bit, then looks up and sees Eric standing over her. He reaches down and pounds her into the wall, knocking her head at least three times into the wall._

"_The fuck you are," he snarls at her. "You're not leaving unless I say so," he hisses. She looks up, her face now covered in bruises and cuts, and she knew that her back was bound to be damaged. _

"_Yes, I, AM!" she screams, using as much strength as she could to push him off her. She gathered enough force to move him a few feet away, and she grabbed the knife from her back pocket. When he storms back at her, she stabs the knife into his shoulder._

_He screams in pain as he leans down on the floor and clutches his shoulder. Victoria takes off and opens up the closet door, and picks up Jane, surprising the little girl, and then runs to the front door. She places Jane down and grabs her car keys. Then, opening the door, she begins to leave when the door is ripped open by Sammie. Victoria runs into her arms. "Get us away from here!" she whispers. Sammie nods._

"_I will," she replies. "You'll stay with me and Mike. It'll be ok. Where's Eric?" Victoria snorts quietly._

"_In the bedroom bleeding. I stabbed his shoulder," she whimpers. Sammie chuckles. _

"_I know you keep a packed suitcase. I'll bring Jane to the car and you grab it quickly," she replies, picking up Jane, who was still confused at everything that was happening, and is taken away to her car. Victoria sighs as she watches Sammie leave the hallway and then turns to the dining room, where she hid the suitcase. She quickly grabs it, where she packed away her clothes and some of Jane's clothes. When she turns back, she sees Eric, up and standing, a cloth now tied over his shoulder. _

"_You little bitch," he hisses, punching her face. She flies into the table and cradles her face for second, before looking back up and glaring at him. As he approaches, she grabs a glass from the table and smashes it against his head. He backs up slightly, and Victoria thinks she should escape, but she instead climbs on top of him, and begins to take a hardcover book that was on the ground and hit his head repeatedly._

"_I won't." Smack. "Take anymore." Smack. "Of you're." Smack. "Shit." Smack. "You piece of arse." Smack. "I hate you!" she screams, hitting him even more as he flinches under her touch. She keeps hitting but then feels arms taking her up. She struggles against the person but relaxes when she hears Sammie's voice._

"_It's ok, Vicky. It's fine," she murmurs. Victoria stops struggling and glares at the messed up man on the floor, now bleeding from his nose and from his lip._

"_Stay away from me and my daughter, you piece of shit!" she hisses, stepping out of the house. She hears his voice and stops in her tracks._

"_She's my daughter too," he groans out. She snorts._

"_She will NEVER be yours," she snarls. "Not if I have anything to do with it. Let's go Sammie," she says to her sister. Sammie nods and grabs Vicky's hand, leading her to her car that Jane was in. When Vicky steps into the car, Jane sees that she had tears on her face._

"_Mommy, are you ok?" she asks. Victoria nods._

"_Yes, sweetie. I am. We both will," she replies as Sammie starts up the car and she drives down the driveway. Victoria takes one last glance at the house and sighs. "We'll be fine," she repeats, crossing her arms over her bruised chest._

* * *

Victoria wakes up in a sweat and looks around her room, before quickly realizing where she was and she took a deep breath, and then let out a nice long sigh. There was no blood, no cuts, and no bruises on her face. She was ok. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest.

"Jesus, someone stop these nightmares," she whispers under her breath. She knew that Eric was gone, or if he wasn't dead, he was at least out of the state. When she went back to her old house when the shit hit the fan, he wasn't there, and it seemed like every one of his things were gone too. Maybe he was gone before all of this shit started, but she knew that he was far from her life.

She gets up from her bed and goes into the hallway of her little apartment that she and her three girls stayed in. She walks down the slim hallway and glances into each room. First was Jane's. She sees that she is sleeping soundly in the small bed of the little room. There were paintings and drawings that littered the walls, and it practically screamed a little kid lived in the room. If it wasn't for all the zombies walking around, some would think it was a normal little kids room, but this wasn't even her apartment in the first place.

She then sees Lexi's room. Granted, Lexi and Sophia were never hers, but both slept with her in her apartment because she had the room and she did care for them like daughters. She was happy that Lexi was finally getting some sleep.

She then sees that Sophia's door was slightly closed and she goes forward. Sophia never closed her door. Even though she was 15, she liked to keep it open, but right now it was slightly closed.

Victoria knocks on the door and she hears the cry of Sophia. "Vicky?" she asks. Victoria steps in and looks at Sophia amusedly. She had a candle lit and was reading a book. "I-"

"Its fine, Soph," she chuckles. "Just make sure to get some more sleep later. I'm heading down to Grand Central to talk to some people, ok? When Jane and Lexi wake up tell them that I'll be there." Sophia nods and smiles, looking back down at the book. Victoria closes the door behind her and sets out on her trip to the terminal.

It had been a week since the group from Georgia had come to the safe zone and from what Victoria could see they were quite comfortable in there. At least now they seemed to trust them. Their leader, Rick, was close to being kind of like the perfect man. Kind, brave, smart and nice. And cute, if somebody was to ask Vicky for her opinion. The kind of guy that once you know he's taking care of eveyrhitng you can sleep calmly. That is, if some stupid nightmare doesn't ruin your night.

Hershel was a good man too. He had the wisdom of the older people, and his serene ways were practically calm. He was also a medical person, which was always a good thing to have in that kind of world.

And there was Daryl, of course. She'd talked to him several times in the past week, and he was a tough guy, quite shy and lonely, but she loved finding ways to bring him out of himself, and every time, it went a little further. Honestly with him around, she didn't feel the need to always be on her senses, even though she always was. He haid aim, cold blood, and a badass attitude that was just great.

Ok, so maybe she had a very, very small crush on him…what could she say? He was sexy, handsome, smart, and actually nice when you talked to him a couple of times. And he had that southern accent that was just…she shakes her head as she gets to the terminal. She walks inside and says hi to the few people that were there, then climbs to the top to see who was keeping watch. She sees that Maggie was the person there.

"Hey there," she says, adjusting the jacket to her body to fight off the coldness of the night. Maggie looks up and sniffs at her.

"Hi," she says cheerfully. She was charming, at least with her. "You can't sleep?" She sits beside her.

"Nah, just bad dreams, you know?" she replies. Maggie sighs in agreement.

"Yeah, I do, sadly," she says. Vicky nods. "May I ask what your bad dream was about?" Maggie asks. Vicky sighs. Why not?

"It was about an ex boyfriend of mine. Biggest asshole I've ever met," she states. She nods, a little look of pity over her face.

"Sorry about that," she replies. Victoria sniffs.

"He's dead anyway. Thank God. Did nothing but hurt Jane and I. Happy he's gone." Maggie nods and faces out to the area.

"What'd he do?" she asks quietly.

"Hit me, stab me, punch me, push me, anything that was considered violent acts, he did it. I left him and took Jane with me about a year before all of this happened. I think he's dead now because I haven't seen him at all, and I know he would be looking for me in this." Maggie sighs.

"Did he…"

"Rape me? Three times." Maggie gasps. "Two he drugged me. The last time he knocked me out. Thank God I didn't get pregnant because of it." Maggie's silent for a moment before turning to her.

"That must have sucked," she replies. Victoria snorts.

"Yeah, it did. It really did. But now he's gone. Maybe I'll find a prince charming in this world. Yeah, right," she states. Maggie shrugs her shoulders.

"I found Glenn during all of this. And I love that man. It's definetly possible. Just have to find the right guy," she states. Victoria nods, a small smile on her face.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replies, smiling at Maggie, who smiles back.

"What the hell ya're doing here, woman?" she hears behind her. "Thought ya didn't have guard tonight." Victoria tusn her head to meet blue eyes looking at her amusingly. That's something she;d notice; this guy seemed to find her entertaining or curious or something like that.

"Can't sleep Dixon. Anyway, are you observing me? How do you know when I do and don't have my guards?" He scratches the back of his neck.

"That lil' girl, Ella, told me so." Victoria raises her eyebrows. Ella was a little girl that she had found hiding out in the ESB with her mother. She played with her a lot and helped her mother, Elaina, with her issues, so the girl had this little thing with her. And she liked it, because she always liked children. And now, they were like a breath of fresh air in this crappy world. After all, she was taking care of two kids that weren't even hers in the first place.

"Ella told you? She's three, Daryl. How did she come to you and tell you I don't have guard tonight?" He sighs.

"Well she did! She told me ya went sleeping early tonight cause' ya didn't have to go out." Victoria smiles, shaking her head.

"Ok, Dixon, take it easy. You look cute when you're angry, though," she chuckles. Darly mumbles something under his breath and Maggie luahgs.

"Well, I guess you're my replacement, so I'm hitting the hay. Good night," she replies, standing up.

"Night, Maggie," Victoria says, snickering slightly. Daryl ndos at her and she leaves. He occupys the palce beside Victoria. "Do you mind if I stay here? I can't sleep." He shrugs his shoulders.

"If ya don't bother me with that touchy-feely girlie crap, it's fine." Victoria laughs.

"Well, I could be like that with Maggie, but unless you're having a well kept secret under your jeans, I'll bet my arse you're not a girl…anyway, you think I'm that kind of girl? Well, I'll try not to bother you with my girlie crap." He shakes his head.

"Ya know what I meant," he says. She smiles.

"That's what my momma used to call me." His brows furrows.

"Huh?"

"Girlie. That's what my momma used to call me. Same with my ex..." she trails off. He nods, and she could see a bit of anger in his eyes.

"Ya think about him a lot, don't ya?" he replies. She shrugs her shoulders.

"He just appeared in my nightmares tonight. Trying to make my life a living hell again even if he's not here. Sorry if this is making you annoyed or something." He looks at her with those piercing blue eyes again.

"Nah, it's just…can't believe someone like that would do something to ya," he replies. She looks at him and cocks an eyebrow, smiling slightly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he shrugs, but she could see a small hint of blush on his face.

"I mean, ya're so nice and shit. I don't see how anyone can not like ya," he mumbles. She chuckles and looks out to the city, propping her feet up against the railing.

"Why thank you," she replies. "How are you taking this situation? A lot of people around, I mean," she asks. He looks at her.

"Fine, I guess. Everyone else looking good. Carol still seems pissed at you," he states. She chuckles.

"I know she's sad Sophia can't remember anything. But she should just be grateful that Sophia is alive, not all pissy. I'm trying to get some memories back. I've been trying for the past two years. It's just so deep in there it's not coming out," she chuckles. "But I'm asking about you. What's up with you and the place?"

"Ok. I'm on my own most of the time, anyway. Nobody really talk to me," he replies. She smiles.

"That's because they're afraid of you. You're kind of and intimidating man, you know?" she snickers.

"Really?" She laughs.

"I guess so. They're just scarred people, Daryl. They haven't really fought to survive like you have. And when they have trust people, a lot of them have had their heads hit against a wall. A really hard and nasty wall. It feels weird to have someone like you here. They've been through a lot. A few people were in a town that they thought was secure and that was a lie."

"Ya really think they don't know how the world is now?" She shakes her head.

"They know it's dangerous, but they probably weren't expecting their safe haven to be torn away from them. But here they are, in this safe zone. To be true, I'm always expecting places to be torn down. This place has just gotten lucky," she concludes.

"Ya're getting along quite well with everybody. Maggie, Rick…" She nods.

"Yeah, your groups nice," she replies.

"So are ya," he says. She smiles at him surprised.

"Oh my God, Daryl Dixon just complimented me. I don't know what to say…" He rolls his eyes.

"Then shut it, woman," he says a little annoyed. Like always, she tries to joke a little over him. She makes a sad face, putting her lower lip in front of the other, pouting.

"Don't get mad with me, Dixon." He looks at her mouth and a little smile runs through his lips.

"Ya're insufferable, anybody told ya before?" She snorts, nodding her head.

"PLENTY of people. A lot, actually. But they never mean it." He stays silent for a moment, looking at one arrow he had been playing with in his hands.

"Me neither." She smiles. A truly, big, shiny smile, perfect straight, white teeth showing and everything.

"I knew that Dixon. I already knew that." He looks at her confused.

"If ya know that much, why don't' ya stop teasing me?" She chuckles again.

"Cause it's funny. You can do it with me too." He smiles.

"Ya're always in a good mood?" She comes closer and shakes her head, denying.

"Just when I'm with you, Dixon," she laughs.

"Shut it woman," he replies, but he was laughing as well.

* * *

**A/N: . XD tomorrow is a full episode of just Daryl and Beth and I read the spoilers and I can't fucking wait! It's going to be amazing! I can just tell already! Thanks for reading and review! Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for the new followers and reviews! I gotta write this quicker then I usually do because I still have homework to do and tests to study for lol. And OMFG last nights episode left me with SO many feels and it gave me a great idea for a background story for my character. I'm quite happy with how it turned out too. And hopefully you will too. And for some reason I'm really craving ice cream right now but lol I don't have any. And also, I'm pissed Leo didn't win the Oscar. That man needs one really badly. But I was happy twelve years won best picture. Now, just have to wait till next year.**

**Now, on with the story!**

* * *

"There you go," Victoria grunts as she finishes fixing up a bandage. "No more bleeding, see?" The little boy, seven years old, Alex, looks up and smiles.

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt anymore," he replies, smiling even wider.

"Well, that's what I'm here for," she says, rubbing his blonde hair on top of his head. "To stop the pain. Now, get out of my sight and go play with the others. Jane is looking for you!" He smiles and he runs away to get out, but she sighs. "But BE CAREFUL!" she yells, her smile still on her face.

Granted, being a nurse wasn't her job before the apocalypse. Hell, it wasn't even close to what she did. She was a dancer, a singer, a Broadway person. And she had worked damn hard to get there. Especially with raising the money to fly all the way from London to New York. But she loved taking care of kids, and knew how to heal anything. She had to learn when she was younger anyway, for her sister. She turns to the small table to look at one of the books she had found for Jane the other day. She was planning on taking them back to the apartment that day.

"Ya have a way with kids…" Daryl says from the door. Victoria raises her head at him and smiles. She was always glad to see his face, his lips curled with a smile. She noticed though, that most of the time, it was only around her.

"Of course I do, Dixon," she says. "I have my own kid to take care of. I have to. Why are you here? Did you shoot yourself with an arrow to your feet or something?" He chuckles.

"Yeah, ya wish. Nah, I'm comin' with Carol. She'll be here in a minute." She cringes.

"Oh, joyous of days," she mumbles. "This'll be fun." Granted, Victoria hadn't talked to her in a while, but she still had a feeling that Carol did not like her still. He chuckles.

"I think she's startin' to warm up to ya," he replies. She snorts.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Dixon," she chuckles. "Well, while we wait, would you like to get a check-up?" She raises an eyebrow. "It's free."

He laughs out loud and comes closer to her, and he sits on the stretcher, looking at her. She look at him shocked and slightly amused. She expected some ironic commentary, not that he wanted her to really check him up.

"If ya want to," he replies. She chuckles.

"Actually, I'm more used to checking you out, but I guess," she chuckles.

"Just like me," he says. She raises her eyebrows.

"Huh? You check me out?" He inclines his head to the side, actually checking her out. He looks at her face, from her brown curls to her lips, then went down, and then right back up again. "Hey!" she says, feeling too observed, though she didn't really care. He laughs. Oh, she liked this naughty Daryl. "What do you think? Like what you see?" she asks joking. He smiles.

"Much," he says, and the way she was looking at her too her so. "Ya look good with the ponytail in your hair." She always put her hair up when she was out working.

"Don't mock me, Dixon," she says, giving him a soft punch in the chest. He laughs again.

"Sorry, Doc."

"I'm not a doctor. If you want to, maybe a nurse."

"Ya're not one of those naughty nurses I've heard of, huh?" She snorts, then laughs.

"Heck no," she chuckles. She couldn't believe how he was talking to her. 'Why are you in such a good mood, Dixon?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"I've had a good night. Slept well." She smiles and continues the joke.

"Did you dream about me?" He smiles.

"Actually yeah, I did." She mock gasps, stunned.

"I'm going to ask a risky question. What did I do in your dream?" she asks, leaning on the edge of the stretcher to get a better look at him. He raises an eyebrow at her, but in that moment a 'Knock, knock' came from the door. Oh, for Christ's sake, she was about to do something wrong and dirty in the stretcher. And now Carol comes along. She looks to the door and saw Carol with a little baby, crying out loud in her arms. She could see Carol was slightly reluctant in coming to Vicky for help, but at the moment she had no choice.

"Oh," she says, smiling. "Is this Rick's baby?"

"Yeah…" Carol says, coming close and giving her the baby. "Or some people call her 'Lil Ass-Kicker." She laughs and looks back at Daryl, who had gone down on the stretcher.

"That nickname must be your fault."

"Guilty," he replies, raising his arms in a surrender way.

"And do you have a real name, Lil' Ass-Kicker?" she asks.

"Judith," Carol replies. Victoria smiles.

"Judith. Very pretty name for a very pretty baby," she replies. "What's the matter?" she asks Carol.

"She doesn't stop crying, and she doesn't want to eat." She nods. 'Maybe it's just because you're handling her at the moment,' she thinks bitterly. But she walks over and places the baby on the stretcher. She kept crying and moaning as she started to touch her belly. She asks Carol a few questions about the baby habits.

"Ok, here's your remedy," she says, as she puts the baby face down and starts to massage the baby's belly with careful hands. "She has colic. It's really normal with new born babies under a year old. It can last almost a year, but with warmth and massages, it'll pass." And the baby stops.

"Wow," Daryl says in a surprised tone. "Ya actually know what ya're doing." She raises an eyebrow.

"Thanks, Daryl. If I didn't I wouldn't be in here," she replies a bit bitterly, looking back at the baby. "Whatever. Let her sleep, and feed her when she asks to." She hands the baby back to Carol and smiles at her. "Simple as that." Carol tries to force a smile but nods and begins to walks out the door. But Victoria grabs her arms. "Carol, I really am trying. I know Sophia is yours and probably always will be. But it's hard-"

"I just want her to remember me and forget you," she hisses, surprising Victoria. "She's changed so much because of you and your little-"

"Carol," Daryl warns her. Carol stops in her rant and simply glares at Victoria before stomping out of the infirmary and leaving her. Victoria sighs and goes back over to the stretcher. "Ya ok?" she hears Daryl asks. She was surprised he was still there.

"Yeah," she replies. He comes closer. She hears his stops and then she feels him right beside her. She tunes around and faces him. She was a bit peeved at him, and he knew it.

"Ya don't seem so." She sighs.

"You know nothing about me, Dixon," she replies. He nods.

"I know ya're always joking around and smiling, and I like that. And I know ya're angry with me." She snorts.

"Oh, really?" she says.

"Look, I…" Daryl didn't know what to say. She knew he was feeling a bit awkward. He wasn't exactly a speech kind of guy. "I didn't mean to say that. I was just saying that ya're really good with the medicine and kids stuff…I…whatever, drop it," he says, and tries to turn around, but she grabs his arms.

"No, keep talking," she asks, almost pleads a bit. But she rarely ever pleaded. She would be damned if she did at that moment. They were inches apart, and she could feel his warm breath on her face.

"Just…don't be mad at me, ok?" he says. She smiles.

"Why?"

"Cause I don't want it. I…sometimes I say things…I always mess up good things.." She smiles at his, grabbing his hand in hers.

"You didn't mess up anything. I'm fine. Especially with you." He puts his hand on her chin.

"Ok," he replies.

"Vickyyyyy…" A childish voice said from the door, making them both jump. "I got hurt…"

"Alex, I told you to be carefull!" she scorns. The little boy looks to the floor, embarrassed.

"I guess I'll see ya later…" Daryl says as he went away. She looks at him as he further away she scorns. The little boy looks to the floor, embarrassed.

"I guess I'll see ya later…" Daryl says as he went away. She looks at him as he further away. She wasn't sure if the next time they talked he was going to be so communicative. He had this strange mood, she never knew how he was going to be when she talked to him. He might be nice, might be naughty, might be flirty, or might be rough, and closed in himself. She really thought he felt some sort of attraction to her; he looked at her when he though she wasn't noticing, and he always smiled when they saw each other. He came to talk to her daily, and she noticed that the only other person he did that with was Rick. Came just to talk, to joke, to laugh. And he never laughed with anyone but her so…what was his deal? She liked him a lot, and it seemed that he did too…maybe he just needed some time. He was shy, felt awkward when he had to say more than two phrases together. She would probably end up being the one to start it anyway. She was always like that with guys.

"Ah, men," she says exasperated.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let me see you knee. AGAIN."

* * *

Sophia was sitting in the foyer of one of the buildings around the area with Jane, who was coloring some pictures next to her while she read 'The Hunger Games.' She had to admit. She really liked these kind of stories. She wished she could be Katniss. Granted, she did know the bow and arrows, but she still kenw she would never be as awesome as Katniss was.

She hears the door open and she looks up, seeing two people walk in. One was an older woman with graying hair. The one who claimed to be her mother. To be honest, Sophia did notice some qualities about her that seemed familiar, but she just couldn't see how this woman was her mother. She seemed completely unstable. And didn't seem like the mother type in her opinion. The woman looks her way and offers her a small smile, but Sophia simply looks back down at her book and waits for her to pass. She hears the woman sigh sadly and go up the stairs. Sophia takes a breath of relief and looks to see the other person who walked in.

It was the boy that was around her age from the other group. Carl, she knew his name was. She smiles and gets up before he could go up the stairs as well. Stepping in front of him, she startles him. But she simply smiles.

"I don't think I've formally met you. I'm Sophia, and you're Carl, right?" she asks. He looks at her confused for a moment before nodding slowly. She smiles. "Nice to meet you. That's my…friend Jane over there," she says, pointing to the little girl who smiles at him. She hesitated in calling her sister, even though she kind of wanted too. She felt like one.

"Hi!" she says cheerfully. Carl waves back at her. Truth be told, Carl was surprised she was talking to him, but at the moment he didn't care. She was actually _talking _to him. He hadn't seen her in almost a year.

"Hey," he replies. Sophia smiles at him.

"If you want I have some comics you could read around the corner. We're really just sitting around doing nothing today." His eyes seemed to light up at the thought of comics. He nods eagerly and she smiles, leading him over to where he would probably be spending the next hours doing.

* * *

Victoria sat perched up on the roof of Grand Central, looking out, all by herself. To be honest, she didn't like being alone. Never did. She hated it. Her whole life she had had her sister by her side, and protected her through a lot of shit. But right now she felt like crap being by herself.

"Where did ya get the bow?" she hears behind her. She jumps up and nearly has a heart attack. She glares at the man.

"Dixon, you scared the crap out of me!" she yells fiercely. He chuckles and steps beside her.

"Well, where did ya get it?" She raises an eyebrow before shaking her head.

"Present from one of my buddies for my sixteenth birthday as a joke." He chuckles again.

"What a present."

"It made me laugh. And now it's one of the best presents I've ever gotten." He nods.

"How old are ya now?" he asks. She smiles.

"A proud twenty five." He raises an eyebrow.

"Twenty five?" She nods. "Ya seem older." And she puffs.

"You sure know how to treat a girl, Dixon." He smiles, coming over to her and leaning on the edge of the wall, his crossbow in one hand.

"I mean, ya don't seem like a crazy-party girl."

"Well, that's because I'm not. I'm a fighting zombies girl. See?" she says, raising one of her knives.

"I mean 'fore this." She looks him in the eyes.

"Well, I wasn't then either. I was….just living life in New York with my sister. Living wild, you know? For the first time in forever." He chuckles.

"Well, and what thought your parents 'bout that?" She sighs, looking down.

"They were never there, so fuck them." Daryl nods.

"How's that?" She sighs again, placing her head in her hands for a second before looking back up at him.

"Look, Daryl. I don't want to talk about my life right now. It's too early in the morning." He raises his hands.

"I neither had parents," he says. "My mom died and my dad was a fucker. Merle was there for me, but he spent a lot of time in jail, so…" She looks at him, pressing her lips. She had feeling he had that sort of past. Granted she was never alone, but she still felt like it sometimes.

"Well, that's not my story exactly," she says. "But you don't want to hear it." He sits in the chair next to her and brings it closer.

"Sure I wanna. Come here." She didn't know how to say 'no' to him, so she scooted the chair over and sat beside him, their arms touching.

"Just a fucked up life," she sighs. "I have a sister you know? Four years younger than me, most adorable little thing I've ever taken care of. And every single Friday, I remember I would come home and drop my bag on the foyer from school, and I'd hear whimpering from the hallway closet. I'd go to it, open up the door, and find her in there, big purple pillow smashed to her chest, her arms wrapped around it, crying, and fresh bruises all over her body. She would say to me, 'Daddy's been drinking.' I would close the door and wait. Then, when he came down, he would ask where she was, and I'd tell him she escaped. He, being the bloody idiot that he was, believed that shit and he would leave to go look for her. Then, I'd grab her, take her up in my arms, and say 'Let's go.' And we would escape to a hotel down the street that our father never found us in. And we would stay there until the weekend would end. Then, when we got home, he would hurt me, and…do other stuff for the trick I played…and then it would start all over again on Friday." She looks over and sees that he's clenching his fists so tightly they were turning white. She places her hand on his, and he looks up. She could see some anger in his eyes. "He's gone now, though. Dead in the ground." She feels him relax a little, but he still seemed a bit tense.

"Who's this sister?" he asks quietly. She chuckles.

"Sammie," she chuckles. "And she still acts like the happy soul she can be. I remember once, when I was twelve and she was eight, she asked me 'Vicky, will this ever get better?' And I didn't know how to answer. I honestly said, 'Sam, I know life isn't going to be easy tomorrow, or the day after, or even the day after that, but I know that it will be better one day, and we would be free of him.' And we were when I turned eighteen. Got the hell out of there and hightailed it out of London and came to New York to start a new life. I became a dancer and my sister a fashion designer. We lived together."

"What about mom?" he asks. She snorts.

"My mother left us when I was four, after Sam was born. And I had another sister, but she's gone now, and I never considered her part of the family because she never stood up for me or did anything to help us." He raises an eyebrow.

"And she was?" She chuckles.

"Her name was Millie. But she's gone now. I think I would kill myself if she was still around." He nods, leaning a bit back against his seat. He places an arm around her shoulders.

"Close with your younger sister huh?" She nods, reaching in her pocket and pulling out a cigarette box, offering one to him. He shrugs. "Sure," he replies, taking one and lighting it up. She does the same, and after taking a long drag, she continues.

"Yeah. She's my best friend, my family. I love her with all my heart. She stopped me from just ending it a few times in junior high from all the bullying and shit. I'm still surviving. I'm just trying to keep my family alive." She chuckles and looks up at him. "I can imagine all the girls in your town starting to sweat when they saw you roll through…'Oh, God, that's Daryl Dixon! He's so hot, and so bad…he fucked Betty Sue and never call her again!" She laughs out loud and he does the same.

"it would have been real hard meeting if we had found each other before this," Daryl says.

"Oh, yeah," she chuckles. "But I think I would have talked to you. You seem cool enough." He raises an eyebrow at her.

"I s_eem _cool enough?" he replies. She chuckles.

"Yeah, seem. " They took a drag.

"We did it quite well, anyway," he says. "Maybe our past life helped us to get through this."

"Yeah. We're survivors, Dixon. We've always been/ But I would had liked to have a normal childhood. No drunk dad or missing mom or fucked up sister. No hits and no beating. Just, you know…a family." It was wishful thinking, but she still wished for it.

"Yeah, I guess it was crap to be us," he replies. She snorts, nodding her head.

"Yup," she replies. "But look at us now? Still alive."

"Gonna stay that way," he murmurs. She smiles at him and rest her head on his shoulder. It was surprisingly comfy.

And what they didn't know is that they were being watched by jealous eyes from the doorway. Carorl didn't like her at all. And now she was stealing Daryl away from her. This was not gonna happen. She was not going to let this happen.

But the two people didn't notice. They just focused on each other and looking out into the now clear night sky above them. It was actually really pretty when there wasn't a bunch of factories running to pollute the air.

* * *

**A/N: NEED TO LEARN TO WRITE QUICKER….BUT LOL hope you enjoyed! And as always thanks for reading and review! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Wow! Thank you for all the new favs and followers and many reviews! I have to say. I was having a pretty shitty day before I cam home and had a mental breakdown. When I finally mustered enough strength to get onto my email and check it and saw all the new reviews it lit up my heart and brought life to me that I thought was dead for the day. It really made me happy. Now, I'm going to write this as quick as I can because I want to relax the rest of the night because I am STRESSED OUT. **

**Ok, on with the story!**

* * *

"You lose!" Victoria says triumphantly. "No, you've been smashed baby!" she yells gleefully. Glenn sighs and shakes his head, throwing his cards on the table they were sitting at in Grand Central. "I win, I win," she chanted silently under her breath.

"Oh my," Maggie says. "She just kicked you ass, honey," she chuckles.

"I know," Glenn answers. "I suck as poker" Victoria smiles, still doing her little dance of victory, moving her shoulders a little.

"I told you! Don't play poker with me! I paid for my plane ticket thanks to this game!" she says. Gleen laughs and gets up, retiring from the game. Sammie chuckles at her older sister.

"I guess I'll head up to the apartments. Rumor has it that Mike is going to ask something tonight," she whispers softly to her sister. Vicky chuckles.

"Oh, I know he will," she replies. "But I have to get up to the roof. I'm replacing Dixon for the night," she smiles. Rick nods.

"I'll go in a second. I'm replacing Carol tonight." Victoria nods.

"Sure, I'll see you up there. Slumber party time." They laugh as she heads out of the main area where they had been playing their game. Rick had been beat up in the first round, so he and Carl were watching them while Victoria kicked everyone's else's asses. She had noticed in the past few days that the teenage boy had been getting close to Sophia. But she didn't mind. He seemed nice and didn't say anything that might be worth being suspicious over. As she walked, she saw little Ella walking around aimlessly, seeming to be looking for something.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing here?"

"I was trying to find you. But I can't. It was hard." Victoria chuckles.

"That's because I was in the main room with your mother. If you're looking for her, she's just around the corner. Still in there." The little girls nods and takes off. Victoria chuckles and takes her rifle and goes out to the staircase. She looks around for a second and sees that Rick wasn't there yet. 'Well, I guess I'll be having some fun time with Carol. Yay,' she thinks bitterly before heading up the stairs. But she stops in her steps when she hears her name from above.

"So…what's your thing with that Victoria girl?" she hears Carol's voice asking. She bites her lip and keeps her mouth shut. She knew it was wrong to be doing this, but she just couldn't help herself from hearing what Daryl was going to say.

"Well, she's nice."

'Oh. That's all?' she thinks, chuckling slightly to herself.

"I don't think so," Carol replies. Victoria rolls her eyes. She already knew that. She had made that plenty noticeable in the past couple of weeks that they had been there.

"If I do ask…" Daryl says. "What's your problem with her?" Carol sighs.

"It's just…I think she's dangerous." Victoria's brow furrows.

"What?" she mutters under her breath.

"Huh?" Daryl asks.

"She looks like she's impulsive and merciless and stupid. Like she would kill the walkers for fun. For God sakes, she probably screwed up Sophia's mind so she wouldn't remember her or any of us. She turned Sophia against us." Daryl clears his throat.

"Ya should be happy that Sophia is alive. And she's my friend." She sighs.

"She may act all nice but underneath that I feel like there's this…other person that is just not there and not good to trust. I saw her with a man the other day. His name was Max. And he was saying stuff that she seemed to be enjoying." Victoria can feel her cheeks heat up at the thought. The asshole was just hitting on her again. She laughed in his face! Not at the joke he made!

"What ya mean?"

"Well, I guess he's been protecting her and all that and she's been paying him back with warm nights. She had that guilty face on her and something about it just seemed fishy." Ok, Daryl hadn't known her for long, but he knew that she would never do that. And she said she hated Burner. He puffs.

"Ya know, I'm starting to understand why Vic hates ya so much. Ya're a bitch."

"Daryl!"

"Yeah. Ya know nothing about her. I'll bet my arm she had never slept with that asshole Burner. She;s not like that. Ya know nothing. Nothing. Not a fuckin' thing, Carol." Wow, he was annoyed. Victoria smiles to herself.

"Daryl, she probably brainwashed Sophia! She doesn't remember us at all!"

"Yeah, and I know how Victoria is. She wouldn't do anything like that. She's one of the sweetest people I have ever met in my life, and she saved Sophia god dam life. When she could have just left her out on the ridge to bleed out and die, she saved her, took her back, stitched her up, and has been taking care of her for the past two years when ya weren't there. So she can't remember anything? That wasn't Victoria's fault. In fact, it was your fault for not keeping a better eye on ya're kid! If ya didn't let her get out of sight, or stopped lookin', this wouldn't have happened. So don't ya dare go blaming Victoria for something ya caused. Ya don't have the right to say a fucking word about it, not 'bout Victoria, and not 'bout me, 'cause ya don't know a fuck!"

She sighs silently. Victoria had never heard Daryl talking that much and he seemed so angry…she was glad she couldn't see his face. Because she was sure that having Daryl that angry with you must be horrible…and the fact that he was defending her…she almost laughs.

"I didn't mean…" Carol starts, but she hears something hitting against the banister.

"Listen," Daryl says. "If I ever, **ever**, hear ya tellin' her stupid again, I'll shove this arrow so far up your ass you'll taste it in your mouth. We're finished now," he says, and she hear footsteps coming to her, so she starts going up the stairs again, making real noise and clearing her throat. They met on top of the stairs.

"Hey," she says when she looks at his face. He was angry. His face was red, and there was a slight vein palpitating in his neck. She was so grateful at him she couldn't help but the smile.

"Hi," he says, almost puffing.

"You ok?" she asks, pretending she didn't hear what they said. He shakes his head.

"Yeah, sure. Just argued a little with Carol." She snorts and rolls her eyes.

"What doesn't that surprise me?" she chuckles. He sighs.

"She's really wrong about ya, Vic. She thinks things 'bout ya that aren't true." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Well, that's because she has never tried to actually get to know me." He nods.

"I guess so. She's just still pissed off about Sophia." She chuckles, rolling her eyes again.

"Of course she is," she says. "That means you've been talking about me?" she asks slyly. He smiles.

"Maybe." She smiles back at him.

"You can go to sleep if you want. I'm replacing you for the night." He nods.

"I'll wait. Who's replacing Carol?"

"Rick." He sighs.

"Rick? Ya and Rick will make the guard?" She smiles even wider.

"You jealous Dixon?" she teases. He shrugs.

"Nah. Should I be?" She chuckles again, shaking her head.

"Not at all." He sighs and catches a strand of her that was floating in the air. He puts it behind her ear and slightly caresses her face with his fingers. She felt how her skin got goosebumps up and down her arms. They heard someone clearing his throat, and Daryl almost jumped away from her.

"Sorry," Rick says. Daryl nods.

"I'm gonna head to bed," he states. But before he could leave, Victoria grabs his arms as he walks away.

"Go to my apartment tonight." He frowns.

"Huh?" She smiles.

"Don't freak out, Dixon. Jane was looking to talk to you. Something about a story being told to her or something like that. She's really looking forward to it," she chuckles. He raises an eyebrow.

"I can't believe she remembered that," he says under his breath. "K. I'll go and fine her." She smiles, and leans up, kissing his cheek,

"You're awesome, Daryl," she says. As she turns around to go find Carol, she hears Rick chuckling behind her and Daryl grumbling. She internally laughs. She knew he would feel embarrassed if she kissed him, but she just couldn't resist. Especially if she was doing it for her own kid.

"Hi," she says to Carol. She was leaning on the banister with teary eyes. She sighs. "Are you ok?"

She nods, looking at her with intense dislike.

"You can go to sleep, Carol," Rick says. "I'm here." Carol went away without a word. Rick looks at Victoria raising his eyebrow.s

"She argued with Daryl," she explains. "But don't tell them I heard it." Rick smiles and comes closer, leaning on the banister with her.

"Weird how those two used to be so close and now is seems like they're always at each other's throats." Victoria raises an eyebrow.

"Tell me about it," she asks, leaning a bit closer. He chuckles.

"I'll tell you if you answer a question of mine." She shrugs, indicating to go on. "What do people call you sharkie?" She chuckles.

"I was born with sharp teeth in the back. See?" She opens her mouth wide so Rick could see inside, and he made an impressed look at what he saw.

"That's pretty wicked," he replies. She laughs.

"I know, right? Now, tell me about these two."

* * *

Sophia and Carl sat with the kids in an abandoned apartment building down the road watching them. The kids would always be allowed to do what they wanted to do on these specific kinds of nights when the older kids would watch them and the grown ups could just relax. Right now, Carl was telling her about everything that the group had been through to get to the safe zone in New York, and she had to admit that she quite liked listening to it.

"Wait, so is the Governor dead?" she asks. Carl sighs, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know. At the prison, we didn't see him get killed, so for all I know he could still be out there. But think we'll actually be ok here. It seems secure, and that's really all that matters in this kind of world." She snorts, causing him to look at her.

"There is more to it than just that. There's food. That's important. Knowing how to shoot a gun, to throw a knife, to hunt? That's really important. That's why Daryl seems to important to your group. He seems to know what he's doing. I wish he would be like a teacher to the kids. Not the teenage girls though. Jesus, they wouldn't even be paying attention to the gun. More to his arms." Carl laughs at this.

"So you're thankful for Victoria and all that?" She nods, a smile on her face.

"Yeah. I am. She's told me how to protect myself, how to shoot a gun, a bow and arrow, a knife. How to hunt and track. She's been like a mother to me, even though she's not. I wish she was though. And I still don't understand what that deal is with that Carol chick." Carl sighs.

"Well…she was your mom before all of this," he replies quietly. She nods. For the first time in forever, she had gotten back a little bit of her memories the day before, but they didn't seem to put Carol in a good light for Sophia. They made her look like she was a terrible mother.

"I know that now," she replies just as quietly. "But from what I've seen, she seems to not be that very good of one. The one thing I remember is running of the highway and her not coming after me. I'm pretty sure a mother-or any sort of guardian for that matter-would run after their kid. Victoria would, and she's not even my biological mother." Carl sighs again.

"Carol is…different from the last time you saw her. But now she just seems….crazy. And she still wants you to be her daughter again. If you don't want that, I really suggest you say something before it gets out of hand," he suggests. "Because it seems like she wants Victoria out of the picture." Sophia snorts.

"Ok. Sure. Yeah, right. I'd like to see her try and kill Vicky. That woman knows more than any of you combined into one. She'd easily be able to take Carol down. Been through a lot." Carl raises an eyebrow at her.

"Tell me how," he says, well, more or less commands. She chuckles, leaning on her legs.

"It's a long story."

* * *

**A/N: I know, shorter then last time, but I wanted to make it shorter to relax a little. Thanks for reading and REVIEW! Luv ya! Hope you enjoyed!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: It just gets shitter each day. I'm sick now but I'm still finding time to write this fanfic for all of you. XD But thanks for all the new reviews and followers and favs! It means a lot to come home crappy and find new reviews. You people are amazing! And now we are moving on with this and getting to the next chapter, which I am quite excited about XD Let's go then!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Victoria wakes up in the afternoon, after spending the whole entire night doing guard. She remembered her talk with Rick and everything he had told her about Daryl and Carol that he could. About Sophia and how Daryl looked so hard for her. About the friendship between them that grew over the months. How Carol killed those two people at the prison and how she was kicked out and found again. Personally, Vicky thought they were stupid for taking the woman back into their group, but she guessed it was there call and not hers.

From what she could see, Carol seemed to be a bit obsessed with Daryl. And she couldn't really blame her. She did know that Daryl was good looking and under his rough exterior he was a really good man with a heart of gold, but it's really creepy how much she really does watch. It's kind of…stalker-ish. That was the word. She had had a few of those back when she was in college, and she made sure to give rid of them and get her off. But in this world, there was really no where to go. And from what she could see as well, Daryl didn't seem to like it. Now, what could she do to calm this thirsty woman?

She chuckles to herself and gets out of her bed, walking out of her room and to the living room. When she walks in, she sees Jane at the kitchen table eating cereal while looking at a picture book, but Lexi and Sophia were smiling at her, like they were hiding something. Her eyes narrow.

"What are you two smiling about?" she asks amused. Lexi and Sophia look at each other with an even bigger smile and then look back at Vicky.

"Well, this morning, Daryl visited," Lexi starts. Vicky raises an eyebrow.

"He did, did he?" she asks. Sophia nods and then grabs something from behind the counter, then keeps it behind her back.

"Yes, and he told me to give you this!" And she brings out the thing that was behind her back. Victoria gasps as she sees what was in her hands. It was a bow. A beautiful, black wooden bow perfectly made. She took the bow from her hands and stretched the string back. It was firm, not like the one that she had. She had told Daryl how her bow was beginning to crumble, and it was getting weaker because she had been using it so much, but she had no clue he would do this. She almost scream of joy, like a little girl on Christmas.

"He made this?" she asks amazed. Lexi nods.

"Yeah. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he has a crush on you," she teases. Sophia nods.

"I agree with that." Victoria rolls her eyes.

"I have to go talk to him. You guys look after Jane, ok? I have to just for a moment." Both girls nod and Victoria runs as fast as she could back into her room. She gets changed quickly and then goes back, gives a quick kiss on the forehead to Jane, and then leaves, all while Lexi and Sophia chuckle.

"Looks like Vicky might be getting some soon," Lexi chuckles. Sophia gasps at her.

"Lexi!" she chuckles.

Victoria runs out of the building and down the street, trying to look for anyone that would know where Daryl was. When she sees Michonne sharpening her katana, which Victoria thought was pretty bad ass, she walks up to her and smiles.

"Hey, have you seen Daryl?" she asks. She nods.

"In Belview," she states, gesturing to the apartment bulidng. "Trying to get Judith to sleep," she adds on. Victoria smiles. Judith was probably one of the most adorable little girls she had ever seen, next to Jane of course. But she was still pretty cute.

"Thanks. Do you like my new bow?" she asks, raising it for her to see better.

"Sure. How you made it? It's hard to make a bow with good balance, curvy enough." Victoria smiles.

"I didn't. Daryl made it." She raises her eyebrows.

"And he gave it to you?" She smiles again.

"Yeah. I think he made it for me." Michonne made a surprised face.

"Wow, that's great." Victoria nods and goes to the apartment building, searching for him. Effectively, she found him in the lobby with 'Lil Asskicker in his arms, swaying her slowly. She stops and took a minute to watch him. He was looking at the baby's face with a little smile, Judith comfortably adapted in his strong arms. It was a really sweet picture. That tough man holding a baby in that tender way, the baby feeling safe in his arms, sleeping peacefully. He looked happy with the little girl in his arms. She smiles at them and she came closer slowly. She places a hand on his shoulder, causing his head to turn and see her face, and he smiles at her.

"You're good at this," she whispers, caressing the baby's hand. He shrugs his shoulders.

"She's asleep. I'm gonna bring her back to her room." She nods but before he could go, she grabs his arms gently.

"After you're done, can we go outside for a second?" she asks him lowly. He nods slowly, not really sure what she was going at. She watches him go and she smiles. Even though he tried to hide it, she could tell that he would have been a great father, even if he somehow became one now he would be. She always admired that in a man.

When he comes out, she nods towards the door and follows her to the doors that led to the backyard the apartment had.

"What?" he asks. She hugs him tight, surrounding his neck with her arms. He stood rigid for a moment, and then she felt his arms going around her waist. "Why's this?" he asks, his breath tickling her neck. She giggles slightly.

"This is a 'thanks for the awesome bow' hug." He chuckles.

"Ok," he replies. She separates from him and shrugs her shoulders.

"Really, it means a lot. I didn't think you would do that for me. Now maybe I can join you on those hunting trips of yours, huh?" she questioned, knowing that he went upstate a little to get to the woods and get food for the group with a bunch of men. He chuckles.

"Maybe," he replies.

* * *

Sophia was messing around with her bow and arrow that she had found a while ago, letting of a bit of stress. Not only was she a bit peeved at Lexi for telling Anna, her other friend, that she had the smallest crush on Carl, she just remembered exactly who Carol was. And exactly what happened to her before the apocalypse. The beatings, the touching, her father, the dirty hands. She couldn't believe it. Carol didn't even stop it. She was a little girl for Gods sake and her mother didn't have enough balls to tell her father 'don't touch her'? What the hell was up with that?

She was beyond pissed. She had bumped her head that morning while trying to get something from her closet, and remembered everything. She remembered getting chased by walkers and Rick following her, and dropping her doll in the lake, and how Carol hadn't gone off to look for her. Carol had just stayed under the car. Wouldn't a real mother go and look for her?

She sends another arrow into the bulls-eye. She was getting damn good at this. This gave her even more of a reason not to talk to Carol. She did nothing to help her little girl. Hell, she wasn't hers anymore. If anything, she was more Victoria's then Carol's. Victoria would make a way better mom then Carol would. She saw how she was with Jane. How protective she was. If someone ever threatened to hurt Jane she would kill them, or die for the little girl. Sophia couldn't say the same about Carol.

She just couldn't believe that that woman, who did nothing to help her, was her mother. It was impossible. She never thought she could dislike someone, but she really didn't like Carol. Not at all.

She lets put a frustrated cry and sends another arrow, and this time, it was such a perfect shot that it went through the arrow that she shot before and through the target. She lets out a puff and lets her shoulders slump.

"I can't fucking believe this," she mumbles under her breath. And then she chuckles. She rarely ever cursed like that, unlike Lexi, who was quite the pottymouth.

She had also remembered Carl and his mom, Lori. How nice they were. Carl had been one of her friends during all of this, and then she got lost. God, he looked so much different from then. It was hard to believe that was the same little boy she had played with. And now he seemed almost in describable from how she last saw him.

She smiles to herself and positions to shoot another arrow, but stops when she hears someone behind her.

"Sophia?" she hears. She turns around and sees that Daryl was looking at her with an impressed look. She had also remembered Daryl. In her memories he seemed so…angry and not…cooperative But now he seemed like a totally different person. Not to mention he looked a lot different. "Did ya do that?" he asks, indicating to the arrows.

"Yeah," she replies, her cheeks turning a bit red at embarrassment. "Victoria taught me. She's a good teacher," she adds on.

"Damn," he says, his eyes lingering on the arrow that was within another arrow. "She's a good teach then," he replies. She nods.

"Yeah, she is. Amazing, and she loves that new bow you made, That was really nice," she says, smiling. He shrugs his shoulders, as if it was nothing, but she could see the truth written all over his face. Literally. His cheeks were red.

"I just made a bow. Is that so damn hard to comprehend?" he replies. Sophia chuckles.

"Yeah, but making a bow takes time. You wouldn't just make a bow for her out of nothing to do. You made it for a reason. And I'm going to find out what it was," she says. He snorts slightly, shaking his head.

"Ya think too much, kid," he replies, chuckling slightly.

* * *

Victoria had patrol later in that day, and she was really, REALLY hungry. She hadn't eaten a wink all day. First she got up, and then she found the bow and practiced with it for a straight hour. She already loved it so much. She just wondered exactly where Sophia was. She hadn't seen her with Lexi and Jane. Maybe she was off talking to Carl. She knew she had a little crush on her.

She goes to Grand Central and find Max there. She finds him staring at her and she glares at him. He looks down. She had made her point clear in saying that she was not in the mood for him. She sees Nick and Emmett talking and she smiles at both of them, and then she sees Sammie talking to Beth. The twenty one year old and the nineteen year old seemed to get along well.

Hershel gives her some scrambled eggs and she eats them slowly, enjoying every last bite.

"These eggs are delicious, Doc," she says. He smiles at her.

"I'm glad you like them." She nods. They were really good.

"I can't believe she wouldn't give him any," she hears behind her. A group of woman, maybe in their late twenties to early thirties, were talking around a table behind her. Rick, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie were talking beside the door but they hadn't heard them.

"I mean, he's practically handing Victoria his dick on a plate and she isn't taking it? He's the hottest guy here! If you ask me, she could use that. She's way to uptight." Victoria purses her lips as she heard them talk. They were talking about Max. Bunch of sluts. Maybe she wasn't that kind of girl. What the hell was wrong with them?

"What was that?" she asks, turning around to face them. All of the women look up with a surprised expression on their faces. "What were you saying about me?"

"Victoria-" But Vicky raises an arm to stop her from talking.

"I can't believe you would think I would do something like that. Max is a dick. I don't want him and I never will. And I don't know what you want. If you want to go suck his dick, fine. Have fun being turned down the next day, because I know these kinds of guys, and all they do is love you and leave you. Have fun, whores," she spite. One of the women shook her head, and Rick and Daryl come closer to her.

"Victoria we were just saying-"

"How uptight I am? How I'm not just going to have sex with someone? Maybe I want something meaningful, huh? I'm not a bunch of sluts like all of YOU!" Sammie finally hears and comes over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder as Rick did the same.

"Whoa, calm down Vick," Sammie says, pulling her back a bit. "I think you need to go take a breath of fresh air, ok?" she says, sending Rick and Daryl a look, telling them to leave them alone for a minute. They got the message and went off. Sammie takes her outside and places both hands on her shoulders. "What was that?" she asks. Victoria sighs.

"They were basically saying I should get a piece of that ass and I don't want to. They're practically calling me a slut or some shit like that. I just want-"

"Ok, I get it," Sammie says, chuckling slightly, hugging her sister. She knew Victoria did not have a good past with that word and it got to her. Vicky sighs. She needed to cool down a bit,

"I should got and say sorry," she mumbles, not really feeling sorry, but she knew it was the right thing to do. But Sammie shakes her head.

"I'll talk to them. How about you blow some steam off somewhere? I'll handle it." Victoria's brow furrows, confused at her sister, but shrugs her shoulders.

"I guess," she mumbles. Sammie smiles at her and goes off. Victoria sighs and looks down at her hands. She had no clue why but she felt dirty for some reason. She never really went off at people but that one word just made her mad.

Then, somebody places her bow on her shoulder. She looks up at Daryl, shocked.

"We're goin' huntin', woman."

* * *

"What happened back there?" Daryl asks, turning to look at her as they walked through the wild life of New Rochelle, which was about a half hour away from the city. She sighs and looks at the floor, shrugging her shoulders.

"I had to say something. They made me angry."

"What's your problem with them? It seems ya like us more than the original people here." She chuckles.

"I think it's just New Yorkers. I'm one of the rare ones that isn't an arse, but I do speak my mind. They just…make me so mad. Max is a total bastard and he just…reminds me of Eric," she sighs. He looks closer at her.

"What exactly did he do to ya?" She sighs quietly.

"Maybe someday, Dixon." Daryl nods, understanding her need to not talk about it.

Four hours had passed since they left the area and they were moving slowly through the trees, keeping their guard on to notice of something was to happen around them. They talked low, but most of the time they were silent, listening to the woods. Daryl had killed some squirrels, but they were looking for a bigger prey. Maybe a deer. That would be nice.

Victoria didn't know what to do. She watched him move, looked at his muscled arms, and, why deny it, his butt, knowing he wouldn't know. This man was starting to drive her crazy, and she was beginning to really want him. She had never met a man that could just make her sweat just by looking at him. And she was deep in her thoughts that she didn't see the root sticking out of the dirt, and she tripped over, hitting the floor. She puts her hand out and dint hit her face, but she grumps, annoyed.

"Ya ok?" Daryl asks, bending down in front of her, offering her his hand. She kneeled, trying to put aside the stands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. She nods.

"Yes. Sorry," she replies. He chuckles a little.

"For what?" She inclines her head a little.

"For the noise."

"Don't be silly. Sit down. Let me see yer knees." She made a surprised face but obeyed him, sitting down and resting her back against a tree. Her knees were scratched, nothing too serious. Daryl took out his bottle of water as she blew a strand of hair that was bothering her, tickling her face. It flew for a moment and then fell on her face again. She tucked in behind her ear with her hand. Daryl spills some water on his hands and washed her knees, touching her gently. She sighs at his sweet contact. It was funny that a man that had killed a squirrel some minutes ago, with awesome aim and without blinking, the man that could gut, skin and clean any animal with his bare hand could touch someone this smoothly. She looks at his concentrated face, as if he was doing something really difficult. She smiles.

"I'm sorry," she repeats.

"For what now?" he says, looking at her as we was still cleaning her ridiculous scratches.

"I'm delaying you. Your hunt would have been better without me. I'm noisy and apparently clumsy." He chuckles and looks at her eyes. His hands move up her legs, apparently unnoticing it.

"Ya'ra doing it good. We're not having luck, that's all. Ya'ra not noisy, and anyone can trip in the woods. Don't ya worry," he says. She smiles.

"Besides you. I'm a disaster," she chuckles.

"Well, I've been huntin' since I was a kid. I had a forest near my house. I used to go huntin' with Merle; we always killed our own meat. I've practiced a lot." His wet hands were massaging her thighs, but she didn't dare say a word.

"If I tell you something, you wouldn't laugh at me?" He smiles.

"Can't promise anything." She chuckles.

"Before this entire zombie shit, I was thinking of becoming a vegetarian." Daryl presses his lips, serious, and then he burst into loud laughs. She looks at him pretending to be offended. "Hey! Don't mock me!" He kept on laughing, sitting on the floor, taking his hands off her. She laughs as well at his contagious laughter.

"A…fucking…vegetarian…god, woman…" he says, between hard breaths, couldn't stop laughing.

"I shouldn't have told you," she mumbles. He shook is head.

"It's ok…It's just…" He starts to laugh again.

"You're scaring off the animals within three miles," she chuckles.

"I don't give a fuck…It's just…too funny…" She rolls her eyes.

"Ok, I get it. I'm hilarious. Can we go please?" she says, giving him a soft push, making him fall to the floor. He stood, laying there, laughing his ass off. If it had been someone else, maybe she would have gotten angry, but she just loved hearing him laugh like that. She was amused by his fit of laughter. "Daryl, come on," she says, grabbing his arms and trying to pulls him up, but he was stronger than her and she falls over him, laughing at the scene. What a couple of hunters, for God's sake.

"Ah…" he sighs, when he stopped laughing. She was laying on him, her chest against his, her face almost touching his. "I can't believe it." She giggles.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah…oh God, I haven't laughed like that since…actually, I cant remember the last time I laughed like that." She smiles.

"Me neither," she says.

She was thinking of maybe making a move now, maybe just get a little closer, but he got serious in a second and put his index finger in front of his mouth, indicating her to stay quiet. He pointed at their right and she took in the sight of a beautiful bog deer standing there, chewing something and moving its ears. She got up slowly from him, not making any noise. Daryl grabbed his crossbow as he got up slowly. He pointed his crossbow at the deer and shot the arrow, right to the heart. It fell to the floor and they got closer. It was dead.

"Damn, you're a good shot," she replies. He chuckles a bit, taking out his knife to skin the animal.

"Thanks. Help me with this, woman," he says. She sighs and she helps him. They carried the deer's meat in their bags as they made their way back to the car. As they walked back, they cam across a couple of walkers, but took them out easily. They were even more surprised when they saw a wild boar passing right in front of them. Not doubting for a second, Daryl shoots the animals and kills it. Now they had even more meat.

When they got back, they were met by Rick and Sammie.

"How was it?" Rick asks, looking at their hands and faces. They were sweaty and bloody. Yuck.

"Great," Daryl says, taking her bag gently, freeing her from the weight. She moves her shoulders and her neck, trying to relax the muscles. "We brought a deer and boar. Good ones." He gives it to Rick and Sammie. They smiles.

"Wow, you guys should go hunting more often," Sammie says, but Victoria shakes her head,

"I didn't make a thing, I was only bothering Daryl." Daryl chuckles.

"She's lying." She raises her eyebrows.

"How have I helped you, huh? Did I make something?" He smiles.

"Yeah," he says, but he didn't explain what. "We should go showerin' now. Go ahead, I'll go in a minute." She raises her eyebrows, but shrugs and begins walking towards the showers in Grand Central (**a/N: Yes, there are showers, theyre in the basement lol) **and makes sure to grab a pair of clean clothes from the small area they had set up. She sees Maggie looking at her with a sly look on her face. God knows what she was thinking.

"Hey sharkie," Maggie says. "How was it with Crossbow Boy?" She sighs.

"Good, we had a little incident to a fit of laughter, but we got some prey anyway." They laugh.

"What did he do to make you laugh?" she asks. Vicky chuckles.

"Who says I was the one who laughed?" Maggie looks at her, amusingly shocked.

"Daryl? Really?" Maggie says. "I think I've never hear him laugh." Victoria shrugs her shoulders.

"Well, he knows how to," she chuckles. "I have to take a shower. I'll talk to you later, ok?" Maggie nods, a small smile on her face, and Victoria punches her shoulder playfully, causing her to laugh. Time to take a shower.

* * *

The water felt so amazing as she washed the dirt and blood of her body. Hunting always did her toll on her and it was messy. But she didn't mind that much. She had gotten dirty her whole life.

She hears footsteps and put her head off the wall that was occulting her. Daryl was standing there, unbuttoning his shirt as he looked over at her dirty clothes on the sink.

"Hey there," she says, looking at him with a smile and her hair covered in bubbles. He looked at her for a second and then looked away, although he could just see her face. "Don't worry Dixon," she sighs.

"Hi," he says. "Ya ok?" She puts her hear under the water again, shouting back at him.

"As good as I can be!" The water washed away everything and she heard the shower go on. She knew that Daryl was showering now too.

She finished hers and dried herself quickly, and heard Daryl turning off the shower too. She bends down and took her clean clothes, and saw Daryl in the corner of her eye. He was in black boxers, and had his back to her. She stares at him, opening her mouth, gaping at what she saw.

He had some tattoos on his back, but it wasn't that she was looking at. His back was covered in big scars, all over his skin. They were clearly not caused by this kind of life, they were from when he was younger. He said that his father used to hit him, but she couldn't imagine it was this bad. Hie body was perfectly shaped, his legs strong and his back muscles, but she couldn't see anything bit his scars. She saw he was going to turn around, so she hid behind the wall of the shower, holding her clothes. She started dressing, trying to hold the tears from her eyes. She was shocked, and she knew he thought she wasn't watching, so she ahd to pretend like she didn't see anything.

She comes out of the shower just to see him buttoning his pants, with his shirt open. God. She breathes slowly, trying to focus. In that moment, having him in front of her, pant unbuttoned, shirt open,a quick thought came to her mind. What would happen if she threw her towel to the floor? What would happen if she would get closer to him, grab his hair and bring her face closer to hers, kissing him? What is she kissed his lips roughly and hungrily, as she wanted to? What if she ripped off his shirt and his pants? What if he had her there, on the bathroom sink? She bites her lip, and he looks at her.

"Ya ok?"

She sighs. She guessed it was just a thought.

"Yeah," she says, going to the sink and washing her dirty clothes. "Do you want me to wash your clothes?" Daryl comes closer, looking at her puzzled.

"What's wrong , woman?"

She looks at him. 'What's wrong? That I want you to want me as iw ant you. Does it even make sense?' she thinks. She forces a smile.

"Nothing, why?" Daryl shrugs.

"Dunno. Ya look strange." She maintained his stare; his blue eyes pierced every part of her. He was frowning. God, this man was starting to know her quite well. She shakes her head.

"You want me to wash your clothes or not?"

"No, it's fine. I'll do it." She shrugs her shoulders.

"You're loss," she chuckles, scrubbing away at the dirt and grime. She feels him looking at her as he washed his clothes as well.

"Ya sure ya're ok?" She smiles.

"You're a long way better than I expected, Dixon," she says, picking up her now cleaned clothes. "I'm glad that you're here." He turned his eyes back to the sink and grumbles. She smiles at his suddenly rough attitude. She turns her back, and then he called her name. She turns around again. He was looking at her, embarrassed, with her lacy black bra in his hand.

"It fell," he says, stretching it to her. She smiles, and her good mood returns when she saw his expression. God, I was like he was holding a womanly bomb or something. She comes closer, grabbing it.

"It's cute, isn't it?" she says, looking at Daryl over the bra. His face turned red as he looked at her eyes. "I stole some stuff from a Victoria's Secret store." He nods and keeps washing again, his face still red. She laughs out loud. "God, Dixon, it's just a bra. Why are you so embarrassed?" He shrugs.

"Dunno."

She smiles at him and turns her back, starting to walk away. But before leaving the bathroom, she stops at the doorway, turning back to him. He looks at her.

"I swear, it looks better when it's on me."

'Need signals? Then you'll get them,' she thinks, smiling inwardly. He looks at her, raising an eyebrow, biting his lower lip. She laughs and goes away, leaving his quiet chuckles behind.

* * *

**A/N: Holy shit I think this makes up for the last chapter? Am I right? XD Hope you enjoyed and review! They're always nice! Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: still surprised at the amount of love this story is getting! Thanks for all the new followers/review/favorites! It means SO MUCH! Especailly since I stayed home sick today. It takes me a bit longer to write chapters now because I like to think the chapter out a bit, and obviously it's working because you guys are liking it! And I am QUITE excited to write this chapter! Very excited. It's probably going to end up being one of my favorite chapters yet XD Lets have some fun!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Some days had passed since the day Victoria went hunting with Daryl. Though Rick and Mike had done a good job of rationing the meat, it couldn't last forever, and Daryl was going to go out hunting again, this time with a tall African American man, named Tyreese, and Carl. The kid wanted so badly to go with them and Daryl and Victoria united their powers to convince a reticent Rick to let him. Finally, the kid had permission and they got ready to go into the forest upstate.

Victoria sighs. She wanted to go, but she had a little emergency with Emma, a young blonde girl that she knew who was in labor and Hershel and Sammie needed her to stay there and help them with the birth. She looks at her little sister, scared, but she had convinced her to stay and help. Even though she really didn't want to.

"Ya don't wanna come?" Daryl asked her, preparing his bag. Carl was next to them, talking to Sophia, excited like only a kid could be. She crosses her arms, frowning.

"It not that I don't want to. It that I cant. I have to help Hershel and Sammie with the baby that's coming. It's going to be a real funny day," she mumbles, shaking her head. Daryl gets up, looking at her.

"Ya know how to help a woman in her labor?" She moves her head slowly.

"Nope. But I know how to give towels at Sammie and how to stitch. I guess that's why I'm staying. Believe me, I would much rather go to the forest with you." He smiles.

"Last time we had some fun, huh?" She chuckles.

"You did, laughing your ass off at me, but I had fun too." He nods.

"I'm not sure about this. I prefer goin' alone to the woods," he says, looking as Carl from the corner of his eye. She smiles.

"You brought me with you and it went well."

"Fine. I prefer goin' alone to the woods are with ya."

"Why?" He shrugs. He always did that when he didn't know what to say. She smiles and squeezes his arm softly. "Be careful out there, ok? I want you back." He smiles a little, looking at the floor.

"We're ready!" Tyreese said with his deep voice. Daryl nods at him.

"Well, see ya later, ok?" he says, coming closer to Victoria and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. She looks at him raising her eyebrows. "Take care."

She nods and watches him turn around, going to the entrance to get to the cars. That little sign of affection caught her off guard, and now she couldn't take the smile off her face. She turns around, planning on going to the infirmary and instead finds Maggie and Glenn's eyes on her. They were smiling, looking at her amused.

"What?" she says, smiling as well, passing by their side.

"What was that?" Maggie asks, pointing to the place where Daryl and she had said goodbye. She shrugs her shoulders.

"I was telling him to be careful, and he did the same." Glenn smirks.

"Sure, and the kiss?" She chuckles.

"You're a couple of gossips. We're friends. It was friendly kiss!" Maggie nods, not believing it.

"Sure. I guess when he comes back you two will get _friendly, _huh?" She rolls her eyes.

"Seriously guys. We're friends." They chuckle as Victoria goes inside to the infirmary, ignoring them. But she was happy that Daryl gave her that innocent kiss.

The pregnant girl was groaning in the stretcher, so she cleans her hands while she tried to keep her mind clear. No thinking of Daryl while working. But Emma was only starting to dilate, so, sctually, she passed a lot of time just standing there, without anything to do,a nd Daryl quickly came to mind. It was weird, giving so much importance to a simple kiss on the forehead. She knew it was gesture that Rick or Mike or even Nick could have done, and she would not be thinking about it that much.

_Well, you don't see those guys the same way you see Daryl, _she thinks to herself. She nods at her thoughts. All of them were like an older brother, a friend, and Daryl was not like that at all. She was closer to Daryl then she was with rick, and they were friends, but she could help but to thing of him as more than a friend. He woke things inside of her that she never really felt before.

She sees Sammie and Hershel walk in, ready to do the deed. Victoria grimaces slightly when Sammie smiles at her. "Ready?" she asks. "Come here," she says. She obeys, not that she wanted to, but it was her duty.

The woman was much more dilated now and it was time.

* * *

Victoria steps out of the infirmary and lit a cigarette, sitting on the floor. She took the longest drag she could and let the smoke leave her mouth slowly. She rubs her sweaty forehead as she listened to the babies crying inside. Five hours had passes since she entered the infirmary. God, it wasn't a pretty sight to see a baby's birth. Everybody talks about the miracle of life, but nobody mentions the screams, the blood and how many times a mother pleads with you to stops the pain.

"How was it?" Sophia asks close to me. Victoria raises her eyes to meet hers, and she came down next to her by her side. Maggie was there with her too.

"God, right now I hate sex," she whispers as she took another drag and they chuckle.

"Tell me that again tomorrow," Maggie says, smiling. Vicky sighs.

"Are they ok?" Sophia asks.

"Yeah. Both of them, mother and child, are alice and healthy. I'm traumatized though, but I guess it was worth it." Maggie pats her shoulder and chuckles slightly, while Sophia snickers at her.

"Judith will have a friend now, it's a boy. Emma told me his name is Jeremy." Maggie nods.

"I'll go in to see if they need anything," she says, patting Victoria's hair on the way in. Sophia looks up at her and smiles.

"You need to eat something," she says, looking at Vicky's skinny body. Victoria chuckles.

"I'm fine. You need more nutrition then I do." Sophia shakes her head and hands her something from out of her pocket. Victoria looks closer and sees that she was holding an apple. Two of them. They were small, but they still looked quite edible and quite delicious. "Holy hell, you found fruit?" she asks, taking one of the apples from her hands. Sophia nods.

"I found them in an old apartment." Victoria smiles and takes a bit into the apple, savoring it's sweet taste. But Sophia's nervous movement didn't go unnoticed. Victoria looks down at her, her brow furrowed.

"Something wrong?" she asks, taking another bite of the apple. Sophia slowly shakes her head.

"I have to tell you something," she states. Victoria nods, waiting, still chewing on her apple. "I remembered my past." She stops chewing and looks at Sophia wide eyed.

"Really? How?" she asks amazed.

"I bumped by head while trying to find something in my closet and it all came back to me," she mumbles, looking down at her feet. Victoria nods, slightly upset. Granted, she had been trying to get her memories to come back, but deep down she didn't want them to.

"Well, now you know who Carol is. If you want to go back to her-"

"That's the point," Sophia interrupts. "I know who she is. Who she was. And I don't want to go back to her. I don't want her to be my mother," she finishes in a whisper. Victoria places her apple down and goes in front of Sophia, forcing her to make eye contact with her.

"Sophia, sweetie, what happened?" she asks gently. Sophia frowns and shakes her head.

"I…I was being touched by my father before all of this…and hurt…slapped. She didn't do anything to help me! She didn't even say to my father not to touch me at all! She just let him beat me! She didn't protect me like someone should! She didn't say stop or anything or…" Victoria sees tears start to leak out of her eyes and she pulls Sophia in for a tight hug. Sophia breaks down in her arms and snuggles closer to Victoria. "She didn't even go out to look for me when I was chased by walkers," she cries. Victoria gently strokes her hair, thinking to Carol. How could a mother not protect her own daughter? Sophia wasn't even biologically hers and she had done more for her in the past few years then Carol did in her first 13.

"It's ok, sweetie. She's not your mother if she didn't do any of that. It's fine. Just forget the past. It's all done now," she murmurs to her. Sophia continues to soak her shirt with her tears.

"I don't want her to be my mother." Victoria sighs and brings Sophia to look up at her, making eye contact with the girl. God she seemed so afraid that now she remembered she would be forced to go to Carol now. 'Over my dead body,' she thinks.

"Sophia, she is not your mom. Maybe biologically, but not in real life. She is nothing but a woman now. The past is in the past and it won't be repeated again." Sophia looks at her with teary eyes while she nods slowly, looking down.

"I don't want her as my mom. I want you to be my mom," she says suddenly, surprising Victoria. She smiles at her.

"Really?" she states, chuckling. "You sure about that? I'm pretty crazy," she says. Sophia giggles slightly.

"You're more of a mom to me then Carol is," she says quietly. Victoria chuckles and places a hand on the side of her face.

"I basically am already your mom. I'd be honored," she laughs, helping Sophia get up. "And don't worry, I'll be talking to Carol about this. Just not now. We need to eat something for dinner." Sophia nods and gets up with Victoria. 'My new mom,' she thinks in her head, smiling slightly. "So…you and Carl?" she teases. Sophia groans and covers her face.

"Shut up," she says, laughing to herself, even though her face was as red as a tomato now. Victoria laughs and leads her to the main eating area.

"I'm just joking."

* * *

Dinner was uneventful, except for Victoria glaring at Carol whenever she glanced at her and Sophia with Lexi and Jane. She was pissed off to this women beyond words could say. But right now she couldt deal with it. She needed to focus on Sophia and on Daryl.

Daryl. They hadn't come back yet. She was starting to worry. The was starting to set and having them out in the woods at night wasn't a fun image. After eating an insipid soup, she went out to the street and looked at all the people walking alone, seeming like they hadn't had a care in the world. She wished she could feel like that. She had this weird feeling, her heart felt heavy and she had a knot in her stomach. It was nine now. They'd been in the woods for ten hours. She walks a bit more. Maybe they had gotten lost? No, Daryl had perfect orientation. She puffs, impatient.

She saw the gates begin to move and she stretched her neck, trying to see something despite the darkness. She saw three figures walking. She recognized Daryl's silhouette. She smiles.

"They're back!" she shouts. She sees Rick walk out and both of them walk closer. Victoria sees that Tyreese was leaning on Daryl, walking on one leg. She knew something happened. When they got closer, Rick walks up to them.

"What happened?" Rick asks. Daryl was carrying Tyreese to the safe zone, breathing hardly.

"We got surrounded by walkers," Carl explains. "We tried to escape, but one of them grabbed Tyreese by the ankle. We think it's broken." Daryl left Tyreese on the stool beside the door of Grand Central, where she was sat some minutes ago.

"You ok?" Rick asks Daryl and Carl.

"Yeah, They didn't get us," Daryl answers, resting his hands on his knees. "But they were close,"

Victoria's heart beat fast, her eyes itchy. 'They were close…'

"Fuck," she whispers. Daryl turns around, facing her. "Are you hurt?"

"Nah, just tired."

"Fuck Dixon," she says, getting closer and throwing her arms around his neck. "You scared the shit out of me…" He surrounding her waist with his arms, squeezing her softly.

"Hey, I'm ok. I'm back, just like ya told."

"Shut up," she says against his chest. "Just shut up." She was so relieved that moment that she couldn't say anything else but that. Then to hold him. He smelled of sweat and woods, and she loved it. It was a really intimate moment. She noticed it in the atmosphere around them. He dug his face in her hair, inhaling deeply.

"C'mon, woman," he says.

"I knew something happened."

"But nothing happened. Just a couple of walkers." She raises his face, looking at his. He was smiling.

"You think this is funny? A couple of walkers? I'm sure there were more than a couple…"

"I couldn't risk the kid. I could have fought them, but I didn't wanna put the kid in that middle of that situation." She nods, separating from him.

"Ok, lets go inside. You should be hungry."

"Hell yeah," he says, surrounding her shoulders with his arm. She smiles at him as they walk inside, but from the corner of her eyes, she sees Carol looking at them with a hint of jealousy. She turns her head slightly to look at her. She gives Carol a cocky smirk, which seems to makes her even madder. This woman would get what's coming to her.

* * *

It was the day after, and Victoria was now out with Daryl after yesterday's events. She felt so happy to be there with him. And now she was. And he was telling a story about his brother.

"And Merle was standing there, raising his hands and laughin', and when the cop handcuffed him, he said: "I'm sorry, agent; I can't see what I did wrong.'"

"Really?" she says, laughing quietly. "With the guy on the floor?"

"Yeah. The poor man had his nose broken and all his teeth were around the floor, but Merle still tried to look innocent." She laughs, shaking her head.

"That actually would have been really funny to see in person. I would have loved to see him get taken behind bars." They were walking through the trees, talking low. "And tell me, have you ever been in jail?" He looks at her smiling.

"Ya mean, before I lived in one, huh?" he says, indicating to the time his group lived in a prison for a while. She laughs.

"Yeah, before all of this."

"Not really. Well, I'd passed some nights in a cell after some bar fight, but never really got jailed. What about ya? Ya ever been behind bars?" She smirks.

"Once. Like you. I had a bar fight." Daryl raises an eyebrow.

"C'mon, tell me." She chuckles.

"Well, a guy tried to get laid and I didn't want to. Typical. The thing got ugly when he started to press against me and I slapped him. He turned away, called me a whore, and I couldn't help but to break a bottle over his head." Daryl laughs out loud.

"Really? And they arrested you?"

"Yeah, I got out in the morning, and made a different walk of shame then the one I used to do." He laughs.

"Oh, woman. I'm sure we could have had some fun back at those days." She nods.

"Sure, I haven't seen the drunk Daryl yet." He shakes his head.

"If we get some whisky one day, we'll share it. I wanna see the drunk Victoria too. Seems funny."

"Oh, she is. Maybe even too funny."

"How's that?"

"I used to lose control pretty often. You know that crazy girl in every bar dancing on the billiards table? That's me." He laughed as they moved to a wall of branches, starting to cut them using her knives that she kept in her belt.

"Ya know, I think I'd like to see that. Ya know the guy who's standing beside the billiards looking at the crazy girl? That would have been me, if I had met ya 'fore all this." She laughs out loud.

"What's wrong? You don't like the sober Victoria?" she asks.

"Yeah, I like her much. But I know everything is better with a couple of shots." She giggles.

"No, you're wrong. Everything is _easier_ with a couple of shots." He nods.

"Maybe ya're right." They pass through the branches and they got to a lake. A big beautiful lake with clean fresh water.

"Holy fuck!" she screams, getting closer to the lake and bending down to touch the water with her fingers. Daryl stood beside her smiling and they looked at each others. She gets up and raises an eyebrow at him, kicking off her boots and leaving her jacket on the forest floor.

"What the hell are ya doin', woman?" Daryl asks, looking at her amusingly shocked.

"I'm gonna have a bath," she says, taking her shirt off. Daryl raises his eyebrows when she stood in front of him in her black bra.

"Naked?" he asks, nearly laughing.

"No. C'mon Dixon, never seen a girl in a bikini? This is the same, but just for you," she says, taking off her shorts and her socks. She takes the hair band out of her hair and lets it fly in the wind. She tunrs back and leaves it all on the floor near the jacket. She looks at him from the corner of her eyes and saw that Daryl was checking out her ass. She smiles. She was wearing black panties as well, lacy kind. With a low cut. 'Well at least I'm wearing nice underwear,' she thinks. And by how Daryl was looking at her, he was thinking something similar.

She turns to him and he looks away. She shrugs her shoulders and went slowly into the water, knowing her was looking at her. God, the water was really cold. She shivered a little and she got goosebumps all over her body. She looked back at Daryl once she was covered in water up to her shoulders. He was standing there, biting his lip, doubting.

"Daryl, come in," she says. He looks at her. "Please don't leave me here alone," she begs, making a sad face, pouting. He rolls his eyes and sighs, and then left his crossbow on the floor and started to unbutton his sleeveless shirt, looking at her. She raised her fist. "Yeah, Dixon, strip for me!" she laughs.

He rolls his eyes and he left his shirt on the floor and then unbuttons his jeans. She submerges a little more in the water till it covered her neck, her hair floating around her. He took off his jeans, his boots, and his socks, standing there with his black and grey boxers. She raises an eyebrow at his body. His arms were well muscled, just as his slightly hairy chest. His stomach plain, with nice abs. His legs were muscled too, the result of extreme fighting to survive he'd been through, like her.

He came to the water and entered quickly , opening his mouth. "Jesus fucking Christ this is fucking cold!" he says, coming to her.

"Well said!" she says, laughing.

"Dammit…" He got goosebumps too. "How can….how can you…" He was shivering.

"Stand it?" she says getting closer to him. "I'm used to coldness. When your balls turn to its place you'll finish your phrases." He snickers.

"Well ….I'm…I'm in," he says. "Ya happy now?"

She smiles; they were inches apart, floating. She puts her hands on his shoulders to keep her balance.

"Yes I am," she says. "Cold water is good for the body, enjoy it." Daryl shakes his head.

"If…if ya say…so…" She chuckles.

"Oh, you crybaby…" she says, wrapping her arms around his neck, brining him closer to her body. "Better now?" He looks at her and nods.

"Ya're the only girl I know that would take her clothes off like that in front of a guy," he says, and she felt his arms go around her waist, bringing her even closer. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, their stomach against each others.

"But you're not 'a guy'. I trust you, Daryl." He smiles.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I feel safe with you. You're the kind of man I would have chosen to have close to me in a zombie apocalypse. Wait a minute…" she says, putting one finger on her chin, pretending to think. Daryl laughs and rest his chin against her shoulder. She was shocked. She didn't expect that Daryl would feel this comfortable being so close, that he would be the one that took the lead. She loved it.

"Ya know, I wanted to ask ya something," he says. She looks at him.

"Ok," she replies.

"I've heard Sophia call ya sharkie a few times. Why does she do that?" he asks. She chuckles and pulls his head back up to look at her.

"I grew up with really sharp teeth, and they're still there. See?" she says, opening her mouth slightly so he could see. When he does, he raises an eyebrow.

"All those little things," he chuckles. "I can see why boys would flock to ya before all this." She raises an eyebrow at him now.

"Really?"

"Sure. Pretty, funny, cheeky, and…well…hot." She laughs. "But maybe ya're too smart for people." She snorts.

"Barely," she chuckles. They both stand in silence for a couple of minutes. She rests her head on his shoulder, just enjoying the moment. She was feeling Daryl's breath on her and his body touching her body, and she was feeling so good. She closes her eyes. 'He called me pretty, funny and smart,' she thinks happily to herself.

"So, a bird huh?" he says, and she laughs, still resting her head against his shoulder.

"You were looking, dirty fucker," she says. "Yeah, I got that tattoo in the middle of my back when I was fifteen…young and stupid, you know."

"Like the demons on my back," he replies. She thought about the time she saw his naked back in the showers. There was something more than the tattoos, but she didn't dare mention it. "Not that cold anymore," he mumbles. She smiles and looks at her.

"See? It's not that bad," she says as she tried to separate a bit from him, but he didn't let her, he was holding her tight.

"Just 'cause ya're here." She laughs.

"I'm here to keep you warm apparently," she says, looking at his eyes.

"And why am I here?" Daryl asks.

"Dunno. To hold me close?" He smiles and his face came closer to hers.

"That's alright to me." She felt his brath on her lips as she smiled. But the hearing of a low moan caused them to jump. Three walkers were on the wide of the lake, where their clothes were, coming to them slowly.

"Fuck," Daryl says, and they separate quickly, going to the shore and avoiding them to het their weapons.

Daryl got his crossbow and killed the walker that was closest to her, as she was putting an arrow in her bow. The blood of the walker splashed on her body, and she raised her bow and shot it. She hit the walker in the forehead and it fell down. Daryl killed the other with a shot.

"I made it!" she says, laughing nervously. "Did you see that? Man, I'm good!" He rolls his eyes.

"Yah I saw it, and your belly is covered in blood." She looks down and makes a sound of disgust.

"I'll clean it."

"Yeah, and we should go. We better get back before it gets dark out." She puffs to herself.

Oh. End of magic. 'Damn walkers,' she thinks angrily to herself.

* * *

They had arrived at the zone sooner or later, having snagged two deer's that had been a bitch to carry to the car. She was still peeved. Fucking walkers. He was about to kiss her! God knows when he would try again.

Everybody laughed of joy when they saw the meat they were bringing.

"_Definitely, _you two should go out more often," Rick says, carrying the meat to the kitchen with the help of Mike and Nick. Victoria quickly ate something and then went to the top to go to the guard stations.

"You'll be alone up there tonight if you don't mind," Maggie says to her. "I'm not feeling that well." Vicky shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't mind. Woman issues?" She nods.

"Yeah." Vicky smiles.

"Go get some rest. "

She went to the top and saw alone, lighting up a cigarette. She was tired, but she liked night watch. It was calming and silent and it cleared her mind. The hours went by quickly as she thought about that day. She bit her lip, smiling. Daryl acted so differently at that lake. He was close to her, comfortable, and he had fun, just like she did. She liked making Daryl laugh. He was always so serious. She liked to see him laugh when they were alone, when he felt relaxed. In times like they were living, feeling good was a blessing. And thanks to him, she had that blessing every day.

"Knock, knock," a voice says from the doorway. She turns to look at Daryl.

"You're my replacement for tonight?"

"Nah, I'm Maggie's. Carol is yours." She nods.

"Good luck, Dixon." He laughs and comes closer.

"Ya liked huntin' day?" he asks.

"Sure. It's been fun. And successful." He made a face.

"Yeah, I guess. But…I wanted to tell ya, in that lake…" She raises her eyebrows.

"What?" He sighs.

"I lost the chance of doin' something'."

He came even closer to her, her body now against the banister. One of his arms came around her waist and the other caressed her face. He had a different look in his eyes. They looked warm and anxious at the same time. She swallows. His face came closer and she closes her eyes when his lips met hers. He kissed her calmly and sweetly, their lips moving in slow motion. She opens her mouth to let his tongue in and the kiss became deeper. She wraps her arms around his neck and he presses her against him, her feet raised a few inches from the floor as their mouths kept connected. Her mind turned off. She could just feel. She felt his mouth, his breath, his body, his heart beating against her chest. His mouth moced against hers in a delicious rhythm. His lips were soft and wet, tasting of cigarettes. She sighs as the kiss kept going; it seemed like it would last forever.

Daryl leaves her leaning against the banister, his lips moving away from hers, and she just didn't want it to end. When they totally separated, she felt her lips were swelled, missing his sweet touch. She sighs looking at his eyes, and she hears footsteps on the stairs. Someone was coming. That was the reason why he ended the kiss. He was breathing heavily, still embracing her. He let her go slowly, pulling the hair apart from her face.

"Hey there," Carol says slowly, coming to us. "You can go to sleep now, Victoria."

She nods, still looking at Daryl. He turned around and grabbed his crossbow off the floor. Carol looks at them confused, but Victoria could see the jealous glint in her eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asks.

"Yeah," she mutters, blinking and making an effort to look at her. She raises an eyebrow.

"You sure?"

"Sure. Yeah." She makes her way to the stairs, while Carol was still looking at her, and gives one last look to Daryl. He was looking at Victoria, and in the darkness she could see a small smile on his face, before looking out into the city, breathing deeply.

"Goodnight," Carol says.

"Night, Carol," she says, walking down the stairs, making sure to hold onto the banister. She hears Carol snicker slightly.

"What's the matter with you guys," she asks Daryl. "Are you stoned or something?"

Daryl doesn't answer, but she made her way down the stairs and to her apartment as if she was. She felt like she was on a cloud. 'Jesus,' she thinks, giggling to herself.

* * *

**A/N: So much words XD And they finally kissed! Thanks for reading and review! They always make me happy! Hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for all the new reviews and followers and favs! Means so much to me! This chapter is probably going to be up later in the day because I have a rehearsal to go to right after writing this, so it's gonna be a little bit late, maybe, but at least tonight I get to be home alone because my parents are going to a st patricks day party and I get to fangirl in peace while watching harry potter XD I seriously need a life so badly. But instead im on my computer writing fanfiction for all of you!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

"_Victoria," Sammie whimpers as they run through the streets to get to their safe haven that they went too. Victoria looks at Sammie quickly and gives her a reassuring smile, even though she wasn't sure they would get away from their fathers rage. _

"_We'll be fine. I know we will," she insists, even though deep down she really knew they wouldn't. They wouldn't be fine until she was able to move out of that hell hole and get her and her sister out of Britain and out of the country. Hell, out of the continent. _

_They can hear his steady running behind them, and Victoria finally decides to pick up her nine year old sister in her arms to be able to run faster. It was a bit harder, but she needed to hide them. She sees an alleyway up ahead of them and ducks into it through the mass of people that blocked them from their fathers vision. _

_They hide in the shadows as his voice passes them and goes further, not noticing that they were there. Sammie whimpers slightly and Victoria hugs her closer to her body. "Is he gone?" she asks worriedly. Victoria nods, stepping out of the dumpster they were hiding behind._

"_He's gone," she whispers. "Come on, let's get to the dining place." Sammie nods and lets Victoria carry her to the building where they would sometimes hide from their father. When they walk to the door, she sees her friend, Millie, there opening the door for them. She smiles sadly at the two._

"_Father troubles again?" she asks. Victoria snorts. _

"_When is it not?" she whines. She places Sammie down on the ground and she runs into the room to say hi to the other girls. Victoria smiles at her and Millie places a hand on the side of her face. _

"_We need to get that bruise fixed up," she states, and Victoria nods, following her into the room that she usually went to. "Get that pretty face looking pretty again." Victoria rolls her eyes._

"_Shut up."_

"The hell ya're doin' woman?" She awakes with a gasp, her heart beating fast. Daryl was staying beside her, as she was laying on the floor, on a towel in her shorts and her t-shirt pulled up slightly, leaving her stomach in sight.

"Jesus, Dixon," she mumbles. "I was asleep. Are you trying to give me a bloody heart attack?" He shakes his head.

"What ya doin'?" She smiles at his irritated face.

"Sunbathing."

"Ya think this is the right place for that?" She looks around. She was in a small park. Everybody was doing their things, some of them looking at them dissimulating.

"Yeah, why not?" Daryl bends down.

"Everybody's looking at ya'." She laughs.

"They're looking at us, Daryl. Because YOU woke me up." He shakes his head, getting closer to her.

"Nad, they're lookin' at yar body."

She smirks as she looks down. Her abdomen has some ugly scars from when she was a little kid that were turning redder with sunlight. Her legs had a few as well, but she wears shirts a lot anyway.

"Maybe they're looking at my scars. Most of them are women anyway." He bites his lip.

"Don't care."

She looks around to see Rick talking with Sammie. As she saw him, he directed her with a quick nod. She saluted him with her hand, a mock two finger salute.

"Are you jealous, Dixon? Or is it that you want to be the only one seeing my body?" He smirks, licking his lips.

"Want to come to the back with me for a minute?" She raises her eyebrows and gets up, following him to the desolated backyard of one of the buildings, so ruined and lonely. He pushes her against the wall and his mouth crashes into hers. Four days had passes since their first kiss and they had been hiding to make out ever since. Actually, they found out that the safe zone was quite the crowded place and they had no time to be alone without anyone seeing them. The thing was this: they hided away where they could, they kissed, they kissed more, the kiss turned deeper, they began to touch each other, and when they got really horny, someone would appear and they separated quickly, faking that nothing was going on. Then they came back to the others, feeling frustrated. After four days it was starting to be annoying.

Their tongues were twisting against each other, his hands down her hips, touching her, grabbing her. She bit his lower lip and he moaned, letting her get to his neck. She kissed it and bit it and licked it, going up his jaw, as his hand grabbed her ass, making her gasp in surprise. She passes her teeth over his facial hair, feeling it tickling on her lips.

"God, woman, I dunno how much I'll stand this…" She reaches his mouth again, kissing him roughly.

"Can't we go hunting someday? Surprisingly, the floor of the forest seems to be a comfortable place," she whispers against his mouth, and she raises her head as he pulled at her hair, then he started to pass his lips over her neck. She wrapped her arms around his waist, biting her lip.

Then of course, they heard someone was coming closer. They move away.

"Hey, you're here," Beth said to her. "Can you help me with the baby for a minute?" Victoria nods .

"Sure, Beth." She follows her, but before turning away, she looks back to Daryl and mutters, "Get a cold shower, Dixon."

He chuckles and nods, puffing. She needed one too, actually.

* * *

Sophia huffs as she walks through the abandoned school building she had found earlier that day. She wanted to be alone while looking through it. She remembered school. She was one of the star pupils in her classes. Now that would never happen again. Unless the world was to somehow get fixed. Yeah, right.

She had no doubt in her mind that the world would never get fixed. The government was fucked up, hell, there was no government at all. She just wanted to at least survive and keep the safe zone safe for however long she could with Victoria, Her new mom.

She had to admit, she surprised herself with her burst of courage the other day about asking Vicky to be her mom. Truth be told, she always liked Victoria more then anyone in the group, but here she was, now officially her daughter. And not Carols.

Carol. Her blood boiled when she thought of her. She never thought she was capable of hating someone, but with all the memories that were coming up from her past, she was slowly starting to wish she would get eaten by a walker.

She opens a door to a classroom and walks in. All the desks were there. She counted around 30 desks, and the chalkboard still had the chalk. The desk had all the teacher supplies, and the windows were covered in dust, as were the desks. She walks over and peers into the closet, and jumps back when two hands reach out to grab her hair and pull her in to take a deep bite of her skin.

In disgust, she takes out her knife and stabs it into its head, it going limp as soon as she made contact with the brain. She growls and pushes it back to the closet, shaking her head. She hated all of these walkers around her and she hated that they could pop out at any second. She had already killed a totatl of six so far, and she was only on the 3rd floor of the building! How was she going to make it to the tenth floor without someone to help her?

"Sophia?" she hears behind her. She spins around, knife ready to throw as her mother had taught her, but relaxes when all she sees is Carl standing there, watching her. She smiles at him, placing her knife back in her belt.

"Hey, Carl," she states. "How long have you been following me, huh?" she asks, teasing slightly. Carl looks down, blushing slightly.

"I wasn't following, I just saw you go in and wondered if you-" She places her hand in front, effectively stopping him in his tracks in talking to her.

"You were following don't deny. I don't mind, though. Want to help me explore this place? There's still plenty of places to see." He shrugs his shoulders.

"Sure."

They walk out of the classroom and to the next floor, no words exchanged between them. They took out a few walkers as they came by, but all in all, the fourth floor seemed void of as many as she had come in contact with in the past few floors. She looks in one of the classrooms and smiles. It was music classroom.

"A guitar!" she says gleefully, running into the room, picking it up in her arms and playing a few chords. Carl follows in behind her and sees her playing the guitar slowly.

"You play guitar?" he asks. She shrugs.

"Vicky taught me how to. It's not that hard, if you ever want to learn I'm open to lessons." He chuckles, sitting down next to her.

"I think I'm fine," he chuckles. She smiles and goes back to playing the guitar for a few minutes, him watching her play. He still couldn't believe this was the same Sophia they had lost a couple of years ago. It seemed almost impossible that she was her.

She started to play some lines from a song she had fallen in love with when she first heard it on Vicky's phone that she kept charged every once and a while. She starts to hum along softly to 'I Won't Give Up On Us.' She sighs and stops playing.

"My memories came back, you know?" she says quietly. Carl looks at her confused.

"They did?" he asks. She nods.

"I remember who you are. Who Daryl and Rick are. Glenn. Carol," she mumbles. Carl looks at her even more confused.

"You mean your mom?" She shakes her head without hesitation.

"She's not my mom. She'll never be again," she says determinedly. He gives her a concerned look.

"Sophia…what did Carol do?" he asks, referring to her name for Sophia to like. She sighs and places the guitar down and fully looks at him.

"I've only told Victoria, so you can't tell anyone." He nods, knowing she will probably hurt him if he even thought about telling someone what she was going to tell him. She sighs. "Ok."

* * *

Victoria was sitting at the table with Maggie and both were giggling like little high school girls. Both were talking about stuff that you would talk about at sleepovers or some shit like that. And it definitely felt like one. And that's when Daryl walks in.

"Vic?" she hears. She looks up, makes eye contact, then burst out laughing as Maggie does the same, holding her stomach. Their topic of conversation had been Daryl. He raises an eyebrow at her. "The hell ya laughing at?" She continues to chuckle, getting up and saying by to Maggie.

"Oh, Daryl…" she laughs, trying to calm herself. "It's girl stuff. You wouldn't understand." He rolls hi eyes.

"Whatever."

"Why were you looking for me?" He raises his crossbow.

"I thought maybe ya wanted to know how to use this. Ya did say ya wanted to try to see if ya better with this then yar bow." Her eyes widen slightly, staring at his crossbow. Wow. Daryl Dixon would let her shoot his crossbow.

"I thought I couldn't touch it." He smiles.

"Now you can." She chuckles, smiling to herself.

"I told you."

"Huh?"

I told you someday you would teach me how to use that device. I didn't think it was going to be this soon, but I told you," she says a bit triumphantly.

He smiles and looks around them. They were no alone in the cafeteria. He comes closer and puts a strand of her hair behind her ear. Then he gives her a short, sweet kiss. She bites her lip when they separated. She loved when he was sweet, when they felt the intimacy between them.

"I know ya told me. Wanna come?" She nods, excited.

"Sure! I want to know if it's as difficult as it seems or if you just chose the easiest weapon." He chuckles, shaking his head.

"In your hand, all weapons are difficult." She hits him softly on the arm. "Ouch," he says, rubbing the area where she punched him.

"You deserve it! The problem isn't the leader! It's from the teacher!" He denies with his head.

"Trust me, half the time with ya're aim, the fault is yours," he says chuckling. She puffs.

"I'm going to kick your ass if you don't stop mocking me, Dixon," she says, wrapping an arm around his waist. He places an arm around her shoulders as he laughs.

"Easy, woman. Ya're gonna learn how to shoot." She nods, smiling. But then he adds. "Someday."

"Dixon, you're lucky you are so damn handsome, if you weren't your nose would be bleeding right now." He laughs.

"Ya'd punch me?" She nods, but she was smiling. She liked the way the relationship was evolving. Now they were absolutely comfortable with each other, and they weren't afraid to say something wrong or to mess up. She could notice it on him. He looked so…happy. He was always joking or mocking her. She liked it. It's not that he stopped being the thoughtful and kind of rough man he was. It's just that he felt more confident about her and what she wanted.

They got to the training area and he made her face the dartboard. She bit her lip when he put the crossbow in her hands, with the arrow ready.

"I'll show ya how to load the crossbow another day. Now ya gotta shoot," he says as she raises the crossbow.

He guides her with his hands. One of his hands was on the lower part of her back, giving her balance, and the other was on her hand, guiding her fingers to the trigger. She breathed deeply. His breath was hitting her neck, and the smell of cigarettes and sweat was driving her crazy. She knew his smell should've stunk instead of being so terrifically attractive, but it just blurred her mind. It was Daryl. His hot body pressed against hers, as he directed her. She could feel his abdominals against her back, his chest, his strong arms wrapped around her…a drop of sweat rolled down her forehead as she was starting to get hot. She looks at the bulls-eye and pressed the trigger.

The arrow hits two inches from the central point, but it wasn't as bad as she expected. Daryl chuckles, his body still against hers.

"Not bad, woman," he says. She sighs.

"You think I can concentrate?" she says, turning her head a little to look at him. He was looking at her, his blue eyes shining warmly. He raises his eyebrows.

"Why can't ya?"

She lets go of the crossbow with one of her hands, caressing deliberately slowly his arm till his shoulder. He looked at her without blinking, but she noticed his skin was reacting to her touch, his arm hairs rising up.

"Because I cant think about arrows when you're this close to me." She turns around completely, facing him, pressing her body against his. He received her mouth with a low moan, holding her against him tightly. Their bodies were palpitating at the same time, reaching for more contact, though it wasn't possible. She groans as she lets her hands go down, putting them beneath his shirt, touching his stomach. She sighs at his hard, sweaty, warm touch. She was really thinking about tearing his clothes off. She presses harder against him and he sighs against her lips.

"Woman, stop…" he says, though it didn't seem like he really wanted her to stop. Her hand made the way down to his zipper, but he grabs her wrist gently. "Not here…"

She kisses him again, hungrily. She wanted him, and she wanted him now. She wraps her arms around his neck with her arms, grabbing his hair, pulling him closer. He smiles against her lips.

"Ya can't help yourself, huh?" She smirks.

"No, Daryl, I can't. I want it. I want _you._" He growls at her words, grabbing her thighs and pushing her against the wall. She was breathing fast, her skin was burning.

A couple of voices brought them back to Earth.

"I saw them coming this way," Glenn says as he came closer.

"They may be training…or not," Rick says, as he turns the corner and found them.

Though they had separated when they heard the voices, they were breathing hard, their faces inches apart, and his hands on her waist, her fingers grabbing his shirt with closed fists. Daryl was the first one to react, turning away from her, and all her body complained as he got further. She looks at the embarrassed and surprised men they were looking at them. Daryl was giving them his back. She could imagine as he breathed slowly in and out.

"Uh….well…." Rick says, scratching his neck, uncomfortable.

"Spit it out, sheriff," she says, sitting on the floor.

"We were looking for you," Glenn says, his face red. She chuckles.

"For what? Some kid hurt his knee? Sophia or Jane need me? Or is Judith crying?" she says harshly. Rick sighs.

"No actually. Sammie said were starting to need supplies. Food, antibiotics, clothes…you know, all that stuff," Rick says. Daryl turns around, looking at Victoria for a moment and then looking at Rick.

"We thought maybe you two would like to go," Glenn says. "When you go hunting the result is great, and…"

"We'll go," Daryl says, nodding. She looks at him, raising an eyebrow. She nods too.

"Sure, if you need us to go…" she says, getting up from the floor. Rick and Glenn smile. It was the perfect occasion. They would be alone, away from the safe zone, in a car…maybe they could find some safe house with a big bedroom…she smiles.

"Great. Do you want anyone else to come with you?" Rick asks. "Michonne or Maggie or Carol offered themselves…" She shakes her head denying.

"Actually we'll go fast if we go alone," she says.

"Yeah, we know how to act together. We'll do better on our own." The two men nodded.

"Ok, Sammie will give you a map. There are some stores we haven't explored yet." They nod and follow Rick and Glenn into the main area of Grand Central, to make a way to get to the stores that they could follow. She looks at Daryl from the corner of her eye and whispers to him.

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" He smiles, looking at her with his blue eyes on fire.

"Hell yeah."

* * *

**A/N: Shorter then my last two chapters but I simply can not write that much again XD Thanks for reading and review! They always mean a lot! Hope you enjoyed!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for all the new reviews! OMG it means so much! And all the new followers and favorites. It's so awesome and keeps me motivated to keep writing this story! But I will warn you, this chapter contains something I have never done before: SMUT.**

**Yes, this chapter is going to have a bit of smut in it, and bear with me here, I have never really written something like that, but I wanted to try for you people because I feel like it would add something nice to the story because I already have idea for afterwards. Now, lets have some fun!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Victoria and Daryl were getting ready for their trip. Everybody had given them a list with different things they wanted, and Victoria was reading it out loud as Daryl prepared their bags. Jane was sitting on her la, playing with a strand of her brown hair.

"Shampoo, soap, razors…" she kept reading. Hell, everybody demanded the same. "Oh my God, someone is asking for condoms." Daryl chuckles.

"Safe sex even when the world gone to shit, huh?" he asks. She laughs.

"We have careful people among us," she says, looking at another list. "Dummies, baby clothes….this may be Ricks."

"Or that girl, the one ya helped in her labor." She nods.

"Oh yeah, Emma…sure, Jeremy needs baby clothes…a cot?" she reads. "God, how will we bring her a fucking cot?" Daryl shrugs his shoulders.

"We can pick a little one, in a box. It'll fit in the backside of my truck." She shrugs her shoulders.

"I guess," she mumbles. "Risking our lives for a damn cot. What has this world come to?" she chuckles. She looks at Jane and chuckles. "Can you answer that, sweetie?" she asks. Jane looks up, suddenly interrupted from her idea of an activity.

"What?" she asks. Victoria chuckles and places her on the ground. "What mommy?" she asks. Victoria shakes her head.

"I hears Sophia and Lexi were looking for you to play? Why don't you go and join them? They're in the park!" Her eyes lit up at the sound of her two friends and she takes off. Victoria laughs at her persistent daughter. She was always in the mood to play. Hell, she could never get to sleep half the time because she wanted to play.

"Ya're really good with her," she hears Daryl say. She looks up and offers a small smile.

"Yeah," she sighs. "I just wish she wasn't conceived in the worst way." He looks at her with a 'tell me' look, but she shakes her head. "Another day, Dixon. Just not now." He nods, understanding. The two walk to exactly where they needed to go and find that Sammie, Maggie, and Rick were there. Rick gives Victoria a gun, and she looks at him, raising her eyebrows. "I don't need a gun," she says. "I'm brining my bow and knives. That's all I need to kill a walker."

"You'll need a gun if you find a human," Maggie says. She rolls her eyes.

"I would like to find that ex of mine and send an arrow through his head. I bet he ran away to Canada." Maggie denies with her head.

"If what you told me is true about him, I suggest not going after him." Victoria raises her eyebrows, then shakes her head.

"Trust me, I know what he's capable of." She looks to her right and sees Rick and Daryl talking near the truck and was about to head over and talk with them when Sophia's voice stops her.

"You're heading out? Again?" she asks sadly. Victoria chuckles and leans down to her eye level.

"I got to. Especially if I want to get some alone time with Mr. Dixon." Sophia laughs. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Before you even know I'm here." Sophia nods, looking down at her shoes. "Sophia, stop being such a worry wart." She looks up.

"Just be lucky, ok?" Victoria nods, pulling the girl in for a hug.

"I'll try as hard as a I can, ok?" Sophia nods and pulls away. From the corner of her eye, Victoria sees Carol glaring at them and decides to put on a little show. She leans in and kisses Sophia's forehead, then pushes her off. "Now go play with Lexi and Jane!" she chuckles. Sophia nods and runs off.

She walks over to the truck and climbs into the passenger seat, letting out a nice long sigh. Time to get this party started.

* * *

They were in the truck, in silence. The thought of Eric bothered her, and not to mention Carol and all her little glare, and she was looking through the window as she bit the flesh of the inside of her cheek. Fuck, she was alone with Daryl, absolutely alone, and she couldn't enjoy it because she was too mad to. She looks at him from the corner of her eye. He was looking at the road, grabbing the steering wheel with one hand, resting his other arm on the open car's window. His eyes were narrowed because of the afternoon sunlight. He looks at her. She looks to the other side, avoiding his eyes.

"Ya ok?" he says with his worriless country voice.

"Yeah." He looks at her, raising an eyebrow.

"Ya mad." She grimaced. "What did that asshole do to ya?" She looks at him with her best exasperation face.

"Why do you want to know?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"Just wanna know." She looks right in front of her. The road was spreading in front of them.

"Don't want to talk about it." He snickers.

"That's what I said when we were talkin' on the roof. Know what ya told me?" She shrugs her shoulders. "Told me I didn't want talk about it, but I needed to."

She keeps the silence, surprised by her words that remained in his memory that clear. She thought about it for a few minutes, while he waited patiently. Then she sighs and starts to talk.

"Well, I met Eric when I was a sophomore in college. And at the time, he was the big deal around campus. He was the jock, the smart person to go to, the lady's man. And at the time, he seemed to have only one thing he wanted. And that was me. And at the time, I sort of liked him as well. He was handsome, sweet. Seemed to always treat ladies nice and respect them. And at first, it was like that. It was like a little romance movie. And then things started to go down south.

"I got an internship at Lincoln Center and it was a huge deal for me. I started to spend my nights there practicing and doing my dances while getting to know the other people there so they would put in a good word for me. He thought at night I was screwing the guys behind his back. And when I told him I wasn't, he didn't buy it. From then on he became protective abusive boyfriend, who would stop at nothing to stop me from supposedly fucking those guys.

"Then on night, I came back to the small apartment we shared, and he was drunk. He…well. He did some things."

"Tell me what he did to you," he whispers.

"It's not a nice story," she warns him.

"Don't care." She sighs.

"Eric liked to feel power. To feel like he was worth something or worth someone else's time. As soon as I walked through the door, he came up to me and threw me on the floor. Then started to yell at me for everything that I've done to him, even though I did virtually nothing. And that's when he took a kitchen knife and stabbed me in the back with it. I still have the scar. When I screamed, he knocked me out with a glass bottle. And in that time I was knocked out he…yeah. And that's what brought us Jane. Me, bwing the stupid asshole that I was, stayed with him for another two years before I moved my ass out and lvied with my sister. I don't know if he's alive or not, but all I know is that wherever he is I hope he's suffering."

Daryl had listened to her story in silence.

The car stops. She looks in front of her and saw they just got the ship. All around them wre like ten walker, more or less. She smiles.

"Look out many little assholes! There are enough for the two of us." Daryl was looking at her. His eyes held anger. She looks at him puzzled. He raises his arm, and puts his hand on her neck, his thumb on her cheek.

"One day, we'll find that motherfucker," he says. "And I swear to you that when I have my knife against his throat, just before it cut up, I'll let him know he dies 'cause he put his hands on ya, woman."

Her heart seemed to increase as fast as I could an her eyes were stinging her. Was it weird that that seemed beautiful to her? Daryl was breathing fast and he hugged her tight against his chest when the first tear rolled down her face. She takes a deep breath of his aroma of sweat, cigarettes, and Daryl, and she puts her hands on his chest to separate a bit from him, or she would cry more. She shook her head, with her hand on his chest, his heart beating fast. She looks at his face and smiles at him, to show him she was alright. He smiles at her back.

"Now, get your knives and let's send those fuckers to their grave they must have escaped from," he says, giving her a quick kiss.

They got out of the car and she got her knives from the back, each one in her hands. Ah, it felt so good to have them in her hands. The first walker that got close to her received a knife to it's forehead and falls down. Next one got and arrow from her bow, and the one after got a knife to the top of it's head. She looks at Daryl from the corner of her eye. He was stabbing a walker in the eye, but another one was to get him on his back. She threw one of her knives at it, sticking it in the walkers temple, and Daryl turns away, looking at the dead walker and then looks at her and shoots an arrow in her direction. It hit the forehead of a walker right behind her.

"Thanks," she says.

"Welcome," he replies, and shot another arrow, killing a walker with a doctors coat on.

Three minutes later, or less, they were all down. Daryl got back his arrows and she got back her knives, and they ran into the shop. She heard Daryl laugh and once they were inside, she turns to him.

"That..was awesome as fuck," she laughs. "We are quick as hell, man!"

"Seein' ya killin' them, and I was…ya…were so…." He puts his hands on her arms, grabbing her. "Hot."

"What?" she asks, surprised.

"Ya're body. Ya're so warm." She puts her hands on his neck.

"You're too. It's adrenaline. Your body just…." He get closer to her.

"Explodes," he ends. His breath was hitting her face, and his eyes were looking at her lips.

Then they heard a sound.

They both turn away, her ready with her bow and arrow and Daryl ready with his crossbow. But there were no walkers. A man, a woman with a baby and a little four year old girl were looking at them. The man raised his hands showing their surrender.

"We…we came for some food," the woman says. "But we couldn't get out…"

"What you've just done," the man says.

"Get outta here," Daryl says.

"We're looking for other survivors, someone we can stay with."

"Not us," Victoria replies. "We're part of another group."

"Please, we can't keep traveling…my daughters…"

Victoria looks at Daryl. That little girl thing tendered her. They couldn't be dangerous. They were just scared people. He looked at her and he knew what she was thinking.

"Got no weapons?" The man denies with his head.

"No more ways out of the shop?" she asks.

"No."

"It's empty? No dead anywhere?" The parents shake their heads. Daryl looks at her. She raises her eyebrows. He sighs.

"We live in a safe zone in the city, like, thirty miles away, to the south. We're 200, maybe more." She saw the surprise and the joy on the strangers faces. "There are other kids," she says to the little girl. Sje smiles at her. "And babies too," she says to the mothers.

"Thanks, thank you so much." They go to the door.

"Tell them we told ya where the place was. I'm Daryl, she's Victoria."

They thank them one last time and went away. The man was the last one.

"Hey," she says. He turns. "Don't fuck with us. You've seen what we can do."

"Got a lot to lose, don't ya?" Daryl says.

"Just want to find a place where my family can be safe."

"Go them." And he went. Daryl put the shops blind donw, so nothing could get in. He looks at her, with his worried face.

"Don't know if we've done well." She smiles.

"Yes we have. They have two baby girls…what a shit carrying a four year old girl with you. It's almost as difficult as a baby."

"She'll just know this shitty life until she dies devoured."

Rough Daryl again. She looks at him, pouting. He inclines his head, coming closer to her.

"Don't do that thing with your lips." She tips her head.

"Why?" she asks.

"Makes me nervous." She smiles.

"It does, does it?" she says, standing still until he got to her, their bodies almost touching.

"Yeah, it does."

"Why?" He doubted for a moment, his eyes went by all around her face.

"Cause it makes me think about your mouth." Her heart stopped beating for a second, just for it to start back up, beating as fast as it could.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"What ya think?"

She looks him in the eyes, those blue eyes, and then looked at his mouth, well defined, so tempting, and she knew that day was today.

She did 'that lips thing' again, containing a smile. Daryl took a breath and he put his hands on her waist. She wraps her arms around his neck. He got his face closer to her and she raised hers, touching his nose with hers and smiles at him. He smiles back and she felt how he was grabbing her t-shit. His mouth crashed into hers strongly, with hunger. Their tongues got twisted, with a cigarette and sweat taste. It was delicious. His lips were soft, smooth and wet, and they kissed her with desire.

Daryl pushes her with his body until she crashed into something hard against her arse, the counter of the ship. He lifts her up and she sits on it. She opens her legs and attracted him to her, closing them around him, everything without separating their mouths.

She felt he was touching the lower part of her t-shit and he began pulling it up, so she separated from him and raised her arms; he pulled her t-shirt off and threw it away. They kissed again. She grabbed hi shirt and opened it with violence, the buttons jumped everywhere and Daryl laughs against her mouth. He pulls her bra down and licks her breasts anxiously, biting gently on her nipple. Everything was fast, and wild. He grabs her short while she takes off her bra fully, and he pulls, taking her panties as well. She stood naked, unless you counted the boots she was wearing.

She unbuttons his jeans and he took them off, without stopping looking at her. He stare at her with a glint of lust in his eyes. He stared at her body from top to bottom, and she was exposed to him, as she watched how he took his clothes off, standing with the leather boots, setting free his great hard member. She wraps her arms around him and they kiss again, but this time the touch of their bodies was different. Skin to skin, and she felt hot her body was palpitating. Daryl was grabbing her thighs and slowly passed his hand between her legs and touched her core. She arched her back and moved her hips, searching for more contact. He moved his fingers to her clit, multiplying her lubrication.

"Damn, you're wet, woman," he whispers.

She was moaning, helpless at the expert touch of his fingers. She put her hand down until she reached his hard length and she moved it up and down, slowly but firmly. He moans, separating his mouth from hers, looking at her.

"Ya ready?" She smiles at him and lets go, grabbing his shoulders. God, she couldn't be more ready. "Ya dirty little woman…"

He got inside her with a quick hammer that made her yell in pleasure, as far as he could get, very, very, inside of her body, and stood there for a few seconds. They looks at each other, she moans and they kissed, this time slower, more careful, enjoying him inside her. He started to get out, slowly, and then he hammered her again. She groans and he started to move with his own perfect and delightful rhythm. Fast, wild, while their tongues were twisting. It was pleasant and passionate. It was hard and rough.

Daryl pushed her until she lay down on the counter, him on top of her, without getting off her for a second, and he kept going, kissing her neck and chin.

"Oh…Daryl…" she moans, not capable of saying anything else.

"Ya're so warm, baby, so…fuckin….Mmm…"

Don't know how much time they remained like that, kissing each other, completely intertwined. She felt heat in her lower body that tickled her legs she almost forgot. She dug her nails into Daryl's back.

"Cum for me…woman..." he moans, and she lets herself go in a violent orgasm, they both scream, and then he comes with a delicious spasm and falls down on her.

They were both breathless and their bodies were burning and shining with sweat. It had been explosive. They had burst; they just couldn't help themselves anymore. His head was resting between her two breasts. She let a hand fall from his back and he caught it, kissing it tenderly. She passed her other hand through his brown hair. 'God, I adore this man,' she thought. And now that she knew he was genuine sex specialist, she didn't know if she could keep herself away from him.

"Your heart beats so fast," Daryl says when he recovers from breath. She laughs, her chest going up and down with her laughter, moving his head.

"What did you expect? It's been like running a bloody marathon." Daryl raises his head and looks at her, resting his chin on her chest. She looks at him. He had a shiny eyes and a big smile, a satisfaction face. Probably the same as hers.

"It's been more fun than a marathon." She laughs again.

"Oh, yeah, that's for sure." He stares at her, smiling.

"I adore hearing ya laugh." She caresses his hair softly, and he closes his eyes as a sigh went out his lips. He liked it.

"I adore _you_," she whispers.

He opened his eyes and stared at her intensely. He slides out of her, she gasps and he twitched at the sensation. He raises his face to hers and kisses her. He didn't kiss her with hunger, like before, because now they were satisfied. He kisses her with sweetness, delicately, his gentle lips over hers. She wraps her arms around him and sighs as they kissed.

They separated smiling and he caressed her forehead with his fingertips, staring at her.

"I don't want to ruin the moment," she says. "But I need to get up." It was true. Her back was killing her laying on the hard counter. He separated from her with calm and she gets up, stretching her back. He was looking at her.

She searches for her shorts, naked, and searched them until she found her small pack of cigarettes. He got up too, just to sit down on the floor, his naked back against the counter. She offers him a cigarette and he takes it gladly. Tasted so good.

"Come here," he says, taking her by the hand and pulling her down, sitting her between his open legs. She laid against his chest as they smoked.

"How long have we been here?" she asks. She had lost complete track of time.

"Couple of hours," he says. "Since we got here and killed the walkers."

"Shouldn't we hurry up?" Daryl sighs.

"Nah, don't mind." He was right. In this life there weren't much moments like these ones and it was worth it to enjoy them. Absolutely calm, safe, relaxed moments. Satisfaction. She smiles.

"How long have you been without sex?" she asks, turning up her head so she could see his face. He thinks for a moment.

"Well….Dunno. Couple a years, more or less." Oh God. Well, that meant he hadn't slept with anyone since the dead started to raise.

"I don't even know for me," she chuckles. He laughs. She felt his chest vibrating under her body.

"That wait was worth it." She smiles.

"I agree." She bites her lip. "And since when did you want to do _this_ to me?"

He laughs, she felt him through her body. He wraps his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She turns her head a little so she could see his face. God, he was gorgeous. She took a long drag.

"Since the first time I saw ya, actually. But I wanted it badly since the first day we went huntin'." She raises her eyebrows. She was not expecting that.

"Really? Why? I was a mess that day. It wasn't sexy at all." Daryl laughs.

"It seemed sexy to me. Every time a strand of hair fell in front of your face, I thought about takin' it and puttin' it apart, behind your ear." He touches her ear with his nose softly and she got goosebumps all over her body. She purrs. "And kissin' ya, havin' ya there, against a tree." She laughs.

"God that sounds funny," she says. "I couldn't imagine you were thinking about that that day."

"I was. In fact, it was hard to think 'bout anything else. I wanted to hear ya moan my name, and puttin' my hands all over your body." He caresses her belly with his fingertips and kisses the skin below her ear. She was in paradise. She didn't know someone could feel this good.

"And have you liked it? Hearing me, touching me? Was it as good as you imagined?"

"It's been better," he says. "Comparing to this, my imagination sucks."

"Oh yeah, the same here…" she sighs, closing her eyes, feeling his caress and kisses. He chuckles.

"Ya fantasized 'bout me?" She giggles.

"Fuck yeah. Lots of times."

"Really? When was the first time?"

"Mmmm…" She thought for a second. "I guess it was the same day, the first hunting day. But when we came back."

"Why?"

"Well, we went to have a shower, and then I watched you go out, shirtless, washing your dirty vlothes. And that day when we had a bath in the lake….God, you looked do sexy." He laughs again.

"Ya silly woman," he says, kissing her neck slowly, sweetly.

"Damn," she moans. "If you don't stop doing that we'll be in round two soon." He chuckles.

"We can't. It's better that we leave 'fore it gets dark. But if ya keep purrin' I don't know if I would be able to help myself…"

"Then stop doing this to me…" she whines. "It's like a torture. A really, really good torture." He sighs.

"I guess it's time to shop." She grimaces and complained, turning her body around, facing him. He smiles to her and surrounds her body with his arms. "God woman…how can ya be like _this_?" he says, looking at her face, then at her body, then back up to her face.

"Like what?"

"This beautiful."

She smiles and then kisses him. God, she could spend all day kissing him.

"C'mon. Up," he says as he gets up. She stays on the floor, on her knees. She had an awesome view from that position. She looks at him, trying to look naughty. He laughs and stretches out a hand to her. She took it, getting up, feeling a bit rejected. She starts to dress, and he did the same, but he couldn't button his shirt. All the buttons were scattered around the floor. "Oh, fuck," he says, but he smiles at her.

He came closer and embraced her from her back, kissing the nape of her neck.

"I wish we could stay here, but it'll be too dangerous. Ya understand?" She sighs.

"I do," she says, turning to face him and holding him as well. "It's just that I don't have your willpower. I'm weak," she says, pouting. He rolls his eyes and kisses her as she laughs.

* * *

Sophia looks at the woman from across the cafeteria and sighs. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it now. She needed to confront Carol about her past. She wasn't about to not talk to her. She just hoped Victoria and Daryl got back so she wouldn't look crazy.

Time to put this woman in her place.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviews are always amazing! And Sophia's gonna stand up to cArola bout her past in the next chapter! I'm so excited for this! Hope you enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Wow, I am surprised at the amount of people who supported my authors note XD and the conert was AMAZING by the way. I got to have front row seats thanks to saving up money FOREVER and got to meet DEMI! She's my inspiration and my life have the time and I am so thankful you people understood. And today my mom actually let me stay home to finish my homework so that's done. So now I can put up another chapter for you lovely people! And in this chapter…I can't wait to write. The confronting of Carol will come a bit later in the chapter, but to be true, I can't wait to write it! We're gonna be having some fun today!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Victoria took almost anything she saw on the shelves of hygiene. Daryl was on the other side, getting food. She felt like she was floating on air. Her whole body felt like gelatin. Her arms and legs were absolutely relaxed, and only wanted to make it again or to go to sleep. She sighs peacefully as she took all the tampons on the shelf. She heard Daryl chuckling. He was looking at her from the other side, through the empty shelf. He was smiling, with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Guess ya're not angry anymore," he says, half smiling. She frowns.

"Have I ever been angry?" she asks, smiling at him. He laughs.

"Yeah, when we were coming here, ya spent half the trip quiet." She shrugs her shoulders.

"Let's just say you know how to calm me down," she replies. He nods.

"Ok, now I know what to do every time ya argue with Carol or whoever." She laughs, taking a pile of alcohol bottles.

"Then we'll have daily sex. That would be awesome, Dixon."

"And with yer temperament, maybe twice a day." They both laugh.

"God, that would be great," she says. "A really good birthday present." Daryl stops walking and stared at her from between the shelves.

"Birthday? When's yar birthday?" She shrugs her shoulders.

"Saturday." He raises his eyebrows.

"Today's Monday." She nods.

"Yeah Dixon. You're so smart."

"What ya want?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"For yar birthday. A present." He scratches the back of his neck. She smiles.

"You don't have to give me a present, Daryl. Worlds ended, remember?" she says, turning the corner to the area he was in, facing him. For that moment, they had emptied the shop. They had three full baskets full of food, medication and other stuff. There was also a pharmacy in front of the shop, so they had planned to go there too. It was beginning to look like a really good shopping day.

"Yeah, worlds ended, but we're not dead. Ya'll be twenty six. I'm sure ya want somethin'." She sighs and got closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He embraced her waist.

"Has anybody ever told you how sweet you are?" she says, looking at his bright blue eyes. He puffs and rolls his eyes.

"What ya want?" he repeats.

"Anything?" she says, raising an eyebrow. He narrows his eyes.

"If I can get it, yeah." She smiles.

"I want to get out of the place. To just escape for the day. No one with us…maybe even get a ride on the bike you found," she says. Daryl had found a motorcycle a while ago and was fixing it up, and deep down, no matter how silly it was, she really wanted a ride on it. He rolls his eyes.

"It's not done yet," he replies. She simply shrugs her shoulders.

"Oh well," she says, still smiling.

He smiles and kissed her slowly, his lip moving against hers sweetly. When he moved slowly away, their lips kept stuck lie they didn't want to separate. She sighs when the kiss ended and he gave her one more quick kiss before talking.

"We'll get out of that zone on Saturday. Sounds good?" She giggles.

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

Sophia sat outside. Why had she chickened out? She was strong. She wanted to tell Carol off and see what she had to say. She wanted to talk to her, but why did she feel like she was going to explode if she did? Her arms were crossed over her body as she stared at the woman talking to some of the others. She still couldn't believe she was standing there, acting like everything was ok. But she seriously wanted to go up and punch her face for not doing what a mother was supposed to do.

She looks down at her feet and sighs. She was pissed at herself. All the stuff Victoria taught her about, to stand up for what she thought was right, was slowly trickling out of her and she didn't want to. But at the same time she did. She felt so confused.

She feels someone sit down next to her and she looks up, finding it was Carl. "What's up?" he asks, seeing her sitting there with her head down. He knew something was up with her. She sighs and looks down again.

"I was going to talk to Carol about my past with her, but I chickened out. I want to but at the same time I feel like something bad is going to happen. Like Victoria is going to get hurt or she's going to go off and try to kill Jane or Lexi or even Sammie just so she can hurt Victoria and it's just killing me. I don't want anything bad to happen to my family just because of a stupid mistake I made by talking about it." Carl sighs and looks at Carol.

"Well…" he starts, looking back at her. "Carol has changed a lot, and I can't guarantee that she doesn't go crazy. But I will say that I don't think anything bad will happen to your family. Victoria is bad ass, and by the way I see her and Daryl, I'm pretty sure he would do anything to protect her. So trust me, I think they're ok. But if you don't talk about it soon, I think it's all just going to come out at one point and it's going to be bad. If you get it out now, it'll be better than later." She looks up at him and smiles.

"Why do you sound like an age old philosopher right now?" she chuckles. He shakes his head.

"Just telling the truth," he replies. She looks back at Carol and sighs.

"Ok, I'm going in," she replies, standing up. Carl looks up at her.

"hey, if it makes it any better, I'll be here to defend you if you need it." She smiles at him.

"Thanks," she replies, looking back at the woman, taking a deep breath and walking towards her. 'I can do this. I can do this,' she thinks in her head, repeating the phrase over and over until she was practically right in front of her. "Carol, can I talk to you?" she asks when she reaches her. The woman looks down at her and she cringes inwardly. How would she do this?

But the woman smiles and nods, following Sophia off. "What is it, sweetie?" she replies. Sophia scrunches her face at that. She did not like being called that. Only by Victoria.

"Look. First, don't call me that. Second, I remember who you are," she says. And she sees light suddenly burst into Carol's eyes. "And I don't like it." And it fades.

"What?" she asks hurt. Sophia takes a deep breath and continues.

"First off, my father used to hurt me, to want to touch me, and you never did anything about it. You were too much of a coward to even try to help me out of that. Instead you just sat back at let him touch me. Second, when I was chased off the highway from walkers, you didn't immediately come after me. Sure, you were held down by Lori, but you could have broken free and gone after me. Instead, all I remember is Rick finding me and telling me to hide. You didn't even come to look for me except for once, didn't you? With Daryl probably?" Carol looks at her with surprise aSure, you were held down by Lori, but you could have broken free and gone after me. Instead, all I remember is Rick finding me and telling me to hide. You didn't even come to look for me except for once, didn't you? With Daryl probably?" Carol looks at her with surprise at first, but then with anger. "I've seen the way you look at him. And I have to admit, he's nice, and sweet, but he's with Victoria. And I can see that he cares for her a lot more than he does for you right now. Third, you are not my mother anymore. I don't want you in my life. I don't need you in my life. Victoria is my new mom, and nothing is going to change that." She waits for Carol's reaction and is surprised when her hand shoots out and grabs Sophia's. She cringes at her tight grip and tries to pull away, but Carol was too strong. "Let go, you evil-"

"You listen to me you little bi-" At that moment, the gates close, and Sophia looks up, and takes a quick sigh of relief to see that Victoria and Daryl were back. Carol turns her body back to her. "You look at me when I'm talking to you, young lady," she snarls. Sophia finally pulls her arm away.

"Stay away from me!" she yells, running to Victoria. Victoria looks up at the scream and sees Sophia running towards her. She crashes in her body and Victoria chuckles, taking Sophia in a tight embrace.

"What's wrong?" she asks, then looks up and sees Carol marching towards her. "Oh God," she mumbles. Carol walks right up to her and starts to grab Sophia, but Victoria places her behind her. "What's wrong with you?" she hisses at her.

"You said something to her. I did look for her, I did care for her-you said something and now she hates me!" she yells. Victoria glares at her.

"I said nothing. She remembered everything on her own, and it's not my fault that you're just a terrible mother." That did it for Carol. She reaches out and throws Victoria to the ground, tackling her. Victoria struggles against her grip, trying to get the upper hand, but she couldn't. But before Carol could do anything else, she had three weapons aimed towards her.

"Let her go, Carol," she hears Daryl say. Carol looks up and is surprised to see Daryl's crossbow pointed directly at her head. She looks to the other two, and sees Sophia aiming her gun at her, as well as Carl. She furrows her brow.

"Carl?" she asks quietly. He simply glares at her.

"If you don't let her go I swear to God I will send an arrow into yer head right now," Darly snarls at her. Carol is silent for a moment before standing up slowly, leaving Victoria on the ground. She backs up slowly, looking at Victoria.

"This isn't the end of this," she snarls, finally walking off. Victoria looks down and sighs. She had a feeling this would happen when Sophia said something. Daryl leans down at helps her up.

"Are ya ok?" he asks softly. She chuckles.

"I'm ok," she replies. "I'm fine." She looks at Carl. "Thanks for helping, little man," she replies. He nods at her and Sophia smiles at him. "You told him?" she asks. Sophia nods.

"I had to tell someone," she replies. "I'm so sorry, I had to do something-" Victoria raises her hands and chuckles.

"I know, sweetie. It's fine. We'll deal with this. For now, you guys go off and find the other kids. You need to go have some fun to get some stress off." Sophia nods and she and Carl go off. Victoria sighs and looks at Daryl. "I think the real hell on earth is starting. Home sweet home," she whispers, leaning into him slightly. He chuckles.

She looks up and sees him really. He looked tired, his eyes were narrowed at Carol's retreating figure, but he also had that sleepy look. He was dirty and sweaty, just like her, and it didn't make them look any better. She chuckles slightly. "What?" he asks, looking at her as they began to walk.

"You need a nap, Dixon?" she says, opening the door to Grand Central Station. When she started to walk she realized just how tired she was too. He knees felt weak, and she smiles. 'You just lost practice,' she thinks to herself.

"No, just need to deal with that woman," he grumbles under his breath. She chuckles, seeing the rest of the group. Rick and Sammie come up to her.

"Daryl! Victoria!" Rick says, coming closer to them. "I was starting to worry, guys." Sammie nods in retaliation, giving Victoria a big bear hug.

He and Daryl gave each other a manly nod, but she gives Rick a quick hug. He hugged her back, laughing a little.

"Everything good here, Sammie?" she asks as she separates from Rick and looks at her sister. Maggie comes to hug her too.

"Actually, we had a visit. Said they knew you." She frowns, without understanding anything.

"Yeah, we met them in the shop. They seemed defenseless, and we thought…" Daryl says. Fuck. She forgot about the family they found in there. She rubs her eyes. 'Your mind is so blurred you're becoming stupid,' she thought.

"I told them to head to an apartment. I couldn't deny them to," Sammie says. "But it would have been better if they had come with you. I wasn't sure about the story they told us…" Victoria shrugs her shoulders.

"We wanted to do it alone," she says, then realizes how that sounded. "I mean, we didn't want to take care of anybody…"

"Is that bloody?" Maggie says, grabbing her t0shirt. She sighs.

"Yeah, we found some walkers there. We had to leave before getting everything, but we were surrounded for a while," she states. They had run into some walkers before the pharmacy, and it was messy. Rick nods.

"The most important thing is staying alive, ok?" he says. "Let's bring all of this inside."

They started to carry everything and she noticed how they actually had done a good job. They had a good amount of supplies now.

"You look really tired, Victoria," Maggie says, walking beside her. She smiles at her.

"I am, but all worth it."

"Absolutely," Glenn says, carrying two bags of food.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Maggie says, raising her eyebrows. Victoria contained her smile.

They left everything in the main kitchen, and they rationed all the hygiene products. When they had ended she was almost falling asleep in the cafeteria table.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to her head bed," she says, getting up. The rest of the group say goodnight to her and she walks back to her apartment building on a cloud. At least that's what she felt like. She was going to pass out as soon as she went to her bed.

She looks to her right and sees that Carol was glaring at her. Deciding to finally say something real, she steps up to her and looks her right in the eyes.

"You can hate me all you want. Hell, you can try to hurt me if you want to try that, even though you could probably never do that. But if you ever harm Sophia or any of my girls, then it becomes personal. You don't touch them, you don't touch me or Daryl, and you don't touch my family. You even think about touching Sammie and you're dead. Get it? Good?" she ends, walking off to her apartment before Carol could say anything that would royally piss her off.

* * *

Victoria later lay on her bed that day, having said goodnight to her three girls. Sophia had still been nervous from the days events, but Victoria had assured her that everything would be fine and that her family would be ok. And now she was just relaxing, her eyes closed, trying to fight away the demons behind her. She had been having nightmares lately, and she just wanted to give rid of them.

"Hey woman," she hears. She smiles with her eyes closed. She didn't think he would come and visit her at her apartment.

"Hey man." She felt her mattress sink a little. Daryl had sat down on it.

"Ya ok?" She giggles.

"I have lost count of how many times you ask me that during the day," she says, opening her eyes and looking at him. He was chewing his lip. "Yes, Daryl, I'm fine. I'm great, actually. I'm just tired." He nods.

"Before I saw ya talking to Sammie. What did ya say to her?" She smiles, sitting beside him. She and Sammie had had a talk before about the run and she felt a bit relieved to tell someone. She passes her finger through his hair, and he closed his eyes for a second, just to open them to stare at her.

"I've told her that I just had the most amazing sex in a shop's corner and, after that, I fought off some zombies. Then, I kind of ran away like a scared little girl, and after that, I fucked again, this time in a car, and my legs are still weak. I thought Sammie should know. She is my sister," she says, very serious, as a little smile ran through her lips.

"I wasn't joking."

"Me neither."

They look at each other for a few more seconds, and then he shakes his head.

"Ok, I just wanted to kiss ya goodnight, but maybe ya don't want to-"

"The hell? I want all the kisses you want to give me," she says, getting closer to him. Their lips met in a pure and sweet kiss, both of them smiling. When they moved away, they stood close, their noses almost touching.

"It's been a good day," Daryl whispers.

"Yeah, Daryl. I think so."

They kiss again before he left the apartment. And she fell asleep with her lips tickling and a little smile on her face.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and being so patient about this chapter! I love you all! Reviews are always helpful and motivating! Hope you enjoyed!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! It really meant a lot! And thanks for all the new favorites and followers on this story! I'm happy its been received so well! So this chapter will be part one of Victoria's little birthday chapters. And it's going to be interesting. It's not going to be a normal birthday get together. It's going to be fun to write for me. And I'm going to take it slow because I want it to turn out fantastic. Or at least good. So lets get on with this!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

_Victoria stares at Sammie as she plays with the other little kids her age in the small home they were staying in during their hide out from their father. She seemed so happy then how she was an hour ago when she had found her in her closet. It was like a breath of fresh air._

"_She's so happy to be here," Millie states softly, cleaning the cut that was on Victoria's face. Victoria nods carefully as not to hurt her cut._

"_Yeah, she does. I wish we could stay here instead of have to go back here. It's so much more fun." Millie shrugs her shoulders._

"_Maybe you should take her to the USA when you're older." Victoria looks at her with wide eyes. _

"_Really?" Millie laughs._

"_Yeah," she replies. "It's really amazing there. And you'll be far away from your father. And also maybe you'll meet some new people and maybe even a guy." Victoria chuckles._

"_I'm twelve. I still have six years to go," she says sadly. Millie shakes her head._

"_You can just leave right now if you want. With Sammie." Victoria looks at her with an incredulous look, shaking her head._

"_No way. I'd rather wait until I'm older and have money for a nice place so my sister and I can be peaceful." Millie finishes up the small cut and covers it with a bandage. Victoria smiles at her. "Thanks Millie." Millie smiles back at her._

"_No problem girl. But really, consider it. You need to get away from that man," she says seriously. Victoria looks at her sisters smiling face and then back at Millie nodding._

"_Don't worry. I will," she replies."She looks so happy. It looks like she's celebrating her birthday." Millie chuckles. _

"_Yeah it does."_

"Happy Birthday, Mama!" a childish voice says near to Victoria's ear. She opens her eyes and she feels a small tear run down her cheek. He heart felt heavy at that moment, and it felt difficult to swallow. She sighs deeply, trying not to cry, as she rubs her eyes strongly with her hands, and turns her head to the little girl with big blue eyes. Jane was looking at her with her eyes shining and a big smile on her face. She smiles at the young girl.

"Thanks, sweetie. That means a lot," she whispers. Jane smiles at her.

"I made something for you!" she says, sitting down on her bed, still smiling at her with all her perfect white teeth. Even in the apocalypse Victoria still kept her daughter safe and hygienic.

"Really? What is is?" she saysa, rubbing her eyes, trying to push the sleep and the nightmares away from her eyes and her head. Jane shows her something similar to a muffin. It was a little amorphous, and had this strange brown and pink color, but it was a muffin.

"Oh! Thank you so much, Jane!" The girl smiles widely.

"Do you like it? Maggie and Sammie helped me! It's chocolate and pink candy." She laughs a little and took it from her tiny hands.

"I love it," she says, giving a hug to the girl. She moves away, she looks at her expectantly.

"Come on! Eat it!" She smiles.

"You know what? We'll go to the cafeteria to see if anybody else wants a bite. It's good to share." She giggles, excited.

"Maybe Dar wants a little!" she says. Victoria raises an eyebrow at her.

"Who?"

"Dar!" she says. She realizes she was trying to say Daryl. Victoria laughs, shaking her head.

"Daryl?" she replies. Jane nods.

"Daryl," she says slowly. "Daryl," she giggles out. Victoria chuckles.

"Yeah, we'll get him to taste it," she replies. At that moment, she sees Sophia and Lexi burst through the door and jump out onto the bed, and then jump on her and envelope her in a deep bear hug. Victoria laughs as she's tackled to the ground.

"Happy Birthday!" they both yell at her. Victoria laughs again.

"Ok! Ok! Let's get down to Grand Central!"

* * *

She damned the day she told Maggie that Saturday was her birthday when she got to the cafeteria and found the silly faces of everybody. They looked at her like a father looks at his teenage daughter when she get the eighteen, the she's-a-woman-now look. She rolls her eyes and she met Daryl's. He was containing a smile when he saw the muffin like thing she held in her hand.

"Happy-" Rick starts.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it. Thanks," she says, and look at the rest. Sammie, Maggie, Nick, Emmett, Mike, Glenn, Hershel, Beth, Carl, Sophia, Lexi, and of course Jane was there. "Thanks to everybody who was about to wish me a happy birthday."

"Beth pouts a little, but Sammie and Maggie shared an understanding look. A we-knew-she-was-gonna-act-this-way look.

"You will take us the pleasure to say the words?" Hershel says. "Having a year more now is even more important then before."

She presses her lips at his kind face, with his little smile, knowing he had said the right words to make her incapable of saying no. She sighs. "Ok."

"Happy Birthday!" they says, with triumph and smiles on their faces.

"Thanks," she chuckles slash mumbles as she walks to a table to sit down. Daryl was sat there, sharpening his knife. She sat in front of him, and he mumbles, without looking at her:

"Happy twenty-six, woman."

She smiles. It was funny that the one person she had the deepest relationship with, the man she had had sex with just before going to sleep the night before, was the one that wished her happy birthday in the more quiet way. Daryl's way. He wasn't the kind of man that would hold her or kiss her in front of others. And it was good to her. She wouldn't have felt comfortable in public cuddles.

"Thanks," she says, looking at him. He raises his head and their eyes meet. He smiles a little, and that smile was more for her then a whole birthday party of anybody else. Her heart beat strongly in her chest as she smiles back.

"What's that thing?" he says, pointing at the muffin with his knife. She shrugs.

"A birthday present." She pinches the muffin and brought a piece into her mouth. Surprisingly, it was good. It was sweeter then everything she'd tasted in months, but good. It tasted like birthday. She smiles. A big hand attacks her muffin and she looks at Daryl really indignant, as she saw him eating a good piece of her present.

"It's good," he says with a mouthful of muffin. She couldn't resist laughing out loud.

"I made it!" Jane says, proud, getting closer to Daryl.

"I think it's an awesome present, girlie," he replies to her, and she felt her heart ache. She remembers her mother and sighs softly. It still pained her with how she was taken from her life. But that wouldn't stop her from being the mother she had to be.

"Say thanks, Jane," she says, looking at her daughter.

"Thanks," Jane says to Daryl. "You don't have a present for her? She's your girlfriend, you should give her flowers!" Victoria laugh at this, hiding her smiling face away from her daughter and her observant nature. "Or candy! Where's her present." she says even louder.

Everybody chuckles at the small girl, including Victoria, but Daryl looked like he was having trouble. He turns to Victoria with the words 'HELP ME' all over his face. She laughs again.

"Jane, just because he doesn't have a present now doesn't mean he wont have one later. It's nothing like that." Jane nods.

"Ok," she says. "But you bought her flowers or not?" Daryl had a mix of embarrassment, discomfort, and fun on his face.

"No, but I have a present for her. But it's a secret," he says, putting his index finger in front of his lips. The little girl nods, giggling and smiles at Sophia who walks up to her and places a hand on her back.

"Let's go outside, kid," she says, containing a smile, and they went out, Lexi following them. Daryl gets up.

"Wanna come?" he asks, putting his crossbow on his back. She raises her eyebrows.

"Where?" He smiles.

"If ya haven't changed your mind, I fixed up the bike and it's ready." She gets up with a jump.

"The bike ride!" she says excited. Daryl nods.

"Let's go, woman."

* * *

She tried to calm down her excitement a s they went out to find the bike, just to seem that she was controlling herself. Inside, she was almost screaming of joy. She wanted to get on the bike the first time Daryl brought it back. Even more when she knew it was his now. She had always wanted to go riding on a motorcycle.

A chorus of "Happy Birthday!" would follow them to the bike. Most of them were people she knew from since the beginning, and she would happily say thank you. Most of the kids said it, and the parents would be say it as well. She felt so loved, but she really thought the day was nothing but another day. But when she saw Carol glaring at the two on their way to the bike, she simply glares back at her and places her arm around Daryl's waist, surprising him, but he didn't mind. She did not want to deal with Carol on this day. She was happy. The wicked witch was not going to bring her down.

Sincerely, deep down, she thought that she was Lord Voldemort or Bellatrix in disguise.

She shakes her head at that. Her and her Harry Potter obsession.

"Jane really likes you two together," Sophia comments when she sees them near the bike. "And happy birthday again!" Victoria chuckles and hugs her.

"It's fine sweetie. She is my daughter. And so are you." She feels Sophia smile and when she pulls away Victoria looks at her. "Hey, I need you to watch over her while I'm gone ok? I'll be back soon enough." Sophia gets a look of sadness over her face. "What's wrong?"

"It's just…" she trails off and glances off in the other direction. She follows her gaze and sees she was looking at Carl. Victoria rolls her eyes. Oh, little teenage crushes.

"Then just keep an I on her while you flirt with little Grimes over there." Sophia looks at her with a shocked face, but Victoria sends her a sly smile. "You can't hide it, sweetie." The roar of the bike got Victoria's attention back to Daryl. He got closer, his strong arms grabbing the handlebar, his winged vest floating behind him. She smiles at the sexy sight, knowing that he want aware of how well he looked on that bike.

"Thanks, mom," she says. Victoria smiles at her. " Enjoy the ride, and have a good birthday out there."

"Hell, she will," Daryl's voice says behind her. She turns to him and walks to the vehicle, jumping on it.

"Have fun!" Sophia yells over the engine and Victoria nods as the bike vibrates beneath her, starting their way out of the zone with a rough rush, and she held tighter on her grip on Daryl's waist, trying not to fall off.

* * *

The wind made her dark brown loosed hair float back and she closes her eyes, feeling free for the first time in forever. In a very long, long time. The vibrations of the bike sent rushes of adrenaline up her spine, and Daryl's hot body against hers made her feel safe. It was like there wasn't a single worry in the world. Just them, the road, and the wind.

"This is awesome!" she yells to make Daryl hear her. She noticed the vibrations on his back, and she knew he was laughing.

"We'll stop ten miles further. We'll eat something!" he says, and she wraps her arms around his waist more enthusiastically, till her hands were in front of his abdomen, and she interlocks her fingers. She let her head rest on his back. 'Look at us,' she thought. 'We could just be a regular couple going for a ride on a Saturday. Enjoying the free day off of work. Going for a picnic. Having fun together. If there weren't zombies between the trees on the sides of the road, of course.'

A path opens up between the trees, and Daryl turns the bike so they got in. They drove into the forest, and she hoped walkers were far away enough that they could not get them. After a few minutes, Daryl stops the engine.

"Here we are," he says, getting off the bike. She follows him and when her feet hit the ground, his body pressed against hers, pushing her to the bike. "Are ya likin' my birthday present?" he whispers against her lips. His warm breath enters her mouth, and her heart accelerated it's beatings. She licks her lips.

"Very much," she says. "Actually, it's the most perfect present I think I've ever gotten."

Their lips met in a sweet kiss, and he sighs against her mouth as she sinks her fingers in his hair. He moves away from her and gave her a slow kiss on her forehead. She took a deep breath, inhaling his aroma.

"Time to eat," Daryl says, and moves his bag, grabbing her hand on the way and directing her between the trees. 'Are we walking holding hands?' she thought to herself, and yes, that was exactly what they doing. "It isn't true, is it?" Daryl says, pulling her away from her thoughts.

"What?" she asks, a bit confused.

"The thing 'bout the present. This isn't your best present ever."

She grimaces a little, and she recorded some of her past birthdays. Her mom getting killed was her first. Her dad wasted on the couch when her friends arrived to give her come cards, or vomiting on the bathroom after dinner on her sixteenth birthday, drinking beer, vodka, anything…or her last birthday there, working her ass off to make the money to get her and her sister to the USA.

"Actually it is," she admits. Daryl raises an eyebrow at her and pulled her closer by her hand, then wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her temple.

"Damn, that's sad, woman." She laughs.

"I don't think so."

They kept walking a few minutes, till Daryl said they were in the right place, and they sat down against a tree. They could see the bike from where they were, so they wouldn't be afraid of someone stealing it. Daryl opened his bag and took out two sandwiches and two beers.

"You must be kidding me!" she says and she took a beet from his hands in a fast movement. "Where did you get these beers, mister?" He shrugs his shoulders, half smiling.

"I have my tricks," he says, opening his own beer. She took a sip. It was cold, bitter, and delicious. She moans as she lets her head rest against his chest, and he surrounds her neck with his arm. He stayed there in silence, drinking and eating, and then they lit a cigarette. It was hot. It was July, and the sun was shining. She felt a drop of sweat falling down the nape of her neck, but she didn't care.

"You know, we should get back someday to that lake we found. A cold bath would be great these days," she says. He kisses her temple again with a sigh.

"Yeah, why not?"

"But this time we'll swim naked," she adds, smiling. She raises her head to look at him as he laughs.

"Yeah, I'm on that. If ya want, we can go right now ." She laughs as well, and stretches her neck to get to his lips.

"You don't need to get me to a lake to get me naked," she whispers against his lips, her voice sounding guttural and husky, something she didn't expect.

"Dirty woman.." he mutters and their lips met with desire.

She thought that the first time they had sex, they would be able to control each other. To sustain her wants and desires. But truth be told, she couldn't get enough of him. And that's when she realized she was head over heels in love with Daryl. He made her feel things she never even thought she could feel after Eric. He was sweet with her and loving. Yet he was strong and brave. It just turned her on even more and made her want him even more.

"What's wrong?" Daryl's voice says against her mouth. She catches her breath and smiles.

"Nothing. Everything's perfectly fine," she chuckles.

They connect their lips again as his hand started to run up her thigh, and her abdomen tensed with anticipation. His rough big hands caressed slowly the backside of her thighs, his fingertips moving beneath the hem of her short jeans, getting to private property. She moans.

Suddenly, he moves away from her lips and she opens her eyes to find his face in full alert mode. She frowns.

"What?" she asks.

"I heard somethin'. Like glass breakin'. C'mon," he says, and he got up and grabbed his crossbow. She follows him with a resignation sigh and they walked into the forest.

They walked no more than two minutes until they got to a cleared zone between the trees. "Holy fuck," she whispers, watching what they had in front of them.

It was an encampment. Some tents were scattered all around, and in the middle there was a table with maps, bottles and glasses. They walked closer, trying not to make a sound. Daryl motions her to watch inside the tents, make sure there was nobody in there. A raccoon was sat on the table, and a glass was broken on the floor. Daryl scared the animal away as he grabbed the whiskey bottle form the table and put it in his bag. The tents were empty.

"There's nobody here," she says. "We should go before anybody come back…we don't know how many there are, but judging by the number of tents, I'm going to say that it's more then two." Daryl face was contracted with something like anger. She frowns. "What's wrong?" she asks, getting closer and looking down, following his eyes. He was looking at the map. It had some pen marks and a zone circled, with annotations all around, like planning their positions. She gasps when she recognized the marked area.

It was the safe zone.

She grabs the map and looks at it closer. It wasn't possible…was it?

"The circle…" she says lowly.

"Yeah, it is. It has the name written, if ya don't believe it." Daryl mutters as he walks all around searching from something she didn't know. Then she looks closer at the map and see the name of someone near the gate that she recognized all too well.

Carol.

The truth sinks in as she realizes that Carol was going to let these people in to attack them. She didn't think she would be this crazy!

"We should get back," she whispers when she was able to talk again.

"Yeah," Daryl says, and started running inside the woods. She follows him closer. They got to the bike in a moment and jumped on it.

"What were you looking for in there," she asks, as he started the engine with a roar.

"Weapons. But I found nothin'"

She took a long breath as they started to move. There were no weapons. That was not a good sign.

* * *

The way back to the prison wasn't so fun. She felt a knot in her stomach and her blood was boiling. She wasn't even able to think. She could just see one face when she closes her eyes…one face with messy black hair and the most menacing look on his face. His eyes looking at her with disgust. She knew Eric would be the only person able to do this. He was surely pissed off. And Carol hated her too. It was probably happy to help someone like him to kill her. She wondered when Carol got to talk to him.

The bike did an unexpected twist and she saw that a truck was getting closer to them.

"Fuck!" she shouts, and she noticed how Daryl's body got rigid.

It was black truck, with some guys sitting on the backside. She recognized the driver, Benitiz. He was Eric's best friend. She could tell who was sitting next to him, then. When the two vehicles cross they look at each other for a millisecond, and she saw the shock on Benitiz's face. They kept going and she heard a scream behind them. "SHOOT!"

The second after that, she heard an explosion and a sudden pain in her ankle. She grinds her teeth, pushing her eyes close, trying to contain a scream.

"The fuckers are shooting at us!" she yells at Daryl's ear, and took the gun from his belt and twisted her waist to face the truck. It was stopped in the middle of the road, the bullets flying through the air. She shot one, two, three time, and then she saw one of them falling to the trucks floor. She smiles as she puts her middle finger up to them and shot again, as they started to truck and went away. They took a curve and she lost sight of the vehicle.

Daryl was driving so fast, she closed her eyes trying not to get dizzy. Maybe it had something to do with the bleeding she was suffering, cause she felt the pain in her ankle as it got harder and harder, and was praying for the wound to be superficial. As the safe zone appeared in front of her eyes, a feeling of relief invaded her body, like if she was thinking the zone could have just blew up. When she saw Sammie running to open the gates, the relief was replaced with fear. She was splashed with blood, her face pale and fear in her eyes. They entered and stopped the biking. Daryl got off and she tried to intimidate him, in a very slower way.

"Thank God, you're…" she started to say, and she saw Sophia running with Jane, Rick and Maggie, coming closer. They were alive. The joy made her sigh. "You're bleeding!" Sophia says.

Daryl's face turned to her as she looked shocked, like if she didn't know she was hurt.

"What…?" Daryl says, his eyes wide open as he bended down to examine her ankle.

"Mama!" Jane cries coming over to her. Victoria takes her in her arms and looks at her. She was plain scared. Scared of her life.

"First things first," she says. "What happened here?"

Sammie frowns and looked to the ground as Rick and Maggie got to them.

"Oh, are you ok?" Maggie asks.

"What happened?" she asks again.

"Oh my God, is that a bullet wound?" Sammie says.

"What happened?" she repeats. She was starting to lose her patience.

"Did you find them on the road?" Rick says. That's it.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE, GUYS?" she yells. She noticed how sad she looked. She grimaced when Daryl spilled some water on her wound cleaning it. Sammie looks to the floor and Rick looks behind her, turning back to one of the other sides of the zone, while Jane snuggles closer into her chest and Sophia comes next to her.

There were resting large pieces of fabric, covering what seemed to be human bodies.

* * *

**A/N: OH SHIT. ITS ABOUT TO GO DOWN. XD Thanks for reading and reviews are always amazing and thankful! And I cant wait to write the next part of this. Oh, it's going to be fun. XD hope you enjoyed!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: For some reason right now I feel inclined to write. So I'm writing the next part in this story and it's going to take me a long time I can tell because I am a slow writer. So this is basically continuing from the last chapter. It might be a bit shorter. But I'm going to get in a bit of anguish in this chapter a bit so I can show a bit of pain on Victoria. I love her a lot, but she needs to feel a bit of pain, Just a little. And the funny thing is is that I'm listening to Disney music while writing this which is one of the most happiest things on earth. XD **

**On with the story!**

* * *

Victoria kneels beside the large pieces of fabric on the floor. She took a long, deep breath as she grabbed one and allowed herself to watch the face of the woman lying on the floor, dead.

"Oh my God," she whispered as she rested her head on her chest, which no long had a beating sound inside it. "Elaina," she cries, watching the face of the woman she was so used to seeing around, laughing and playing with her little girl. Her face was pale and the hole on her forehead made her want to scream. She wanted to yell so loud that she lost her voice. She wanted to punch, kick, and kill the bastards who did this. Low weeps were heard all around the safe zone. Everybody was crying for thei dead ones inside.

She moves her eyes to the body next Elaina's. One little hand was showed beneath the white fabric, and a rush of fear invaded her body.

"No…no, no, no," she whispers as she got closer and slowly, so slowly it hurt, took the piece of cloth away. A little girl, with bright blonde hair was resting there, as if she was sleeping. The bullets hole in her head was the most terrible sight she had ever seen. And she had seen some pretty awful shit. But a sigh of relief had went out her lips, and she immediately felt guilty about it. She wasn't Ella. She was Lily, daughter of Nora and Michael, the family they had found on the shop some days ago, even though it seemed like eternity. She passed her fingertips slowly on her cheek. It was so cold that she moved her hand away with a shake. Daryl was in front of her. He had uncovered the rest of the bodies less delicately then her, and now they were looking at seven of their people laying dead on the ground.

She knew all their names and all their faces. Elaina and Lilly. And Holly was there too, one of the girls she had argued with for a straight day in the cafeteria. Roger, an old man who used to teach the kids mathematics and English. A contraction of pain covered her face when she saw the face of Emma, the young girl who had the baby just a few weeks ago. The baby wasn't there, fortunately. Beside her resting was Alex, a little kid who used to scratch his knees a little too much. His blue eyes were open and she looked away. The other two bodies were sisters, Mary and Jane, if she wasn't wrong. They were younger then her.

"We heard the sound of a motor, and we tried to move everybody inside to Grand Central, but too many people were outside," Maggie says. "They began shooting even before we could prepare ourselves."

"Too many fell," Sammie mutters, kneeling beside her and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. She moves away, getting up.

"Are there injured people?" she asks, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. Sammie nods.

"Yeah. Sasha had a bullet in her thigh; Hershel is trying to heal her. And Nora got hit when she tried to save her daughter." She nods.

"Nobody else?" Daryl points at her ankle.

"Ya should go to the infirmary to see Hershel."

She nods and turns around. She enters the infirmary just to see Nora crying desperately in her husbands arms and Sasha pressing her teeth while Tyreese held her hand.

"Victoria, you're back," Hershel says, looking at her with tired eyes. She opens one of the closets and took of a bottle of alcohol, a gauze and a needle and thread. She sits down on the floor and poured a squirt of alcohol on her ankle, and then she sutured it without any contemplation.

"Oh my God, what the hell are you doing?" Tyreese says, looking at her like she had gone crazy. She says nothing.

"If you wait I will take care of it," Hershel says.

"I can do it myself," she says roughly and when she ends she covered the wound with the gauze and got up, exiting the infirmary. When she gets to the outside, she realizes she still had pressing issues to deal with. The fact that Carol had let them in. Where the fuck was she?

She crosses the street and ignored all the questions she heard on her way until she got to Rick.

"Oh, Victoria are you…?"

"Do you know where Carol is?" she asks politely. He frowns, looking confused.

"No, why?" he replies. She glares at the ground for a moment before sprinting off in the direction of the gates. She hears screams behind her, telling her to stop, but she keeps running. She needed to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible and find Carol. She knew she had left with Eric or just left for a minute to think she wasn't part of it.

"Victoria!" she hears Daryl yell after her. He goes to try and get her but Sammie holds him back.

"Let her go. She needs to blow off steam. She'll be fine. I'll go after her soon." Daryl looks at her younger sister for a second before glancing back at the gates. It was too late now. She was out of the borderline.

* * *

Victoria stares at the building she had set on fire. She had let out steam, and she sure did let out a lot of it. A shit ton of walkers were in there. But she couldn't find Carol. So either she was back at the zone, or she was with Eric. She had run the whole way up. Now she had at least a two hours trip to get back to the zone.

"Can you please come back now?" Sammie's soft voice broke out from behind her. Victoria turns around sharply and glares at her little sister.

"Why the hell are you here?" she says lowly. Sammie simply stares at her.

"To bring you back." Victoria turns back to the giant fire. She was breathing hard, covered in sweat and splashes of blood. Dead bodies were scattered all around, and she looked at them empty, and could only feel the strong beatings of her heart.

"Why?" she whispers, more to herself then to Sammie.

"We have lost a lot of people today. We are a family and we need you. You are scaring the people then they already are. You can't kill more walkers. You've given rid of all of them," she laughs. "I'm asking you, please Victoria. Lets go back."

The sweet voice of the woman ran through her body and she turns around to face her. She steps forward and Victoria falls into her arms.

"I'm so sorry…" she sobbed against her chest and she fell on her knees. She held her tight against her, like a mother would do. This was something Victoria used to do to her, but now the roles were reversed. Suddenly, she remembered that the woman who was hugging her had nearly lost her own family, and possibly the situation was more painful for her then many of them.

"You don't have to. WE didn't know what was going to happen with Eric."

"If Daryl and I would've stayed here, we could have protected you. I took or best warrior with me." Sammie embrace became weaker and she took her face between her hands, looking at her eyes.

"It's not your fault. Even if you two had been here, we would have been attacked anyway. Neither you nor Daryl could have done anything. Our best warriors couldn't have protected us." She nods and gets up, waling with her arms around Sammie's waist, going back to the car.

"Daryl was worried sick about you, by the way," she states, chuckling slightly. Victoria chuckles.

"I bet he was," she snickers. "I just ran out to go find-" She remembers. "Sammie, I have to tell you something," she says. She raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"It's about Carol."

* * *

Everybody was reunited in the cafeteria. Rick was standing on his feet in the middle, and he looked tired. He was pale and his eyes were red. She felt a guilt sensation on her stomach when she thought that she had contributed to make him feel like that. Life if he hadn't enough worries, a girl was outside the zone, just up and disappearing like a sick crazy bitch. 'Oh yeah, Vicky. You're very helpful.'

Ella ran at her screaming "Vicky!" when she saw her. She kneels down and embraced her with her arms, feeling the tears rolling down her face. This poor girl lost her mother today. She needed her and she hadn't been there. She held her tighter.

"Ella, sweetie pie," she whispers in her ear.

"Mommy's gone, Vicky," she cried lowly against her chest.

"I know honey. I'm so sorry." Her voice broke her heart in two when she said, "Dar told me you would come back for me." She didn't even know where Daryl was right now. She holds the girl tighter. She sat on the stool with Ella held against her chest and she nods at Sammie and Rick, who was looking at her. And understanding glance was enough between them to know that they were happy to see each other healthy and rational.

"What happened today will stay in our memories forever," Sammie started her speech. "We've lost a lot of people, and I truly give my apologies to their families and friends. What happened today can't happen again. We lost the feeling of danger as they prepared themselves for attack. For now on, the security will be updated. Nobody will be outside without weapons. We will protect the rest of us. I know today there's nothing I can say to make you feel better, so I'll just day go to sleep, cry for you loved ones and tomorrow will be another day."

Sammie went out of the cafeteria and so did Rick. Victoria looks at the wet face of the girl sat on her lap. Ok, maybe this hadn't been the best speech ever. But she didn't know how to improve it. Anyway she got up and cleared her throat. Rick and Sammie turn around from the door and looked at her.

"Hey…hi…," she says, looking at all the face around her. They were all so sad she almost sat down again, but she took courage from…she didn't even know where. "I'm…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I wasn't even here when all of this happened. And I'm sorry for that too. I know it's difficult to believe that now, when the danger is everywhere, out principal threat is a living man, but it is. I know you can't believe that this happened. We do our best to protect you. Everybody who was in the zone before we got here, and Tyreese, Sasha, many of us and myself. But you got to make yourselves stronger." Sammie steps closer to her, like if he was preparing to stop her if she said something inappropriate. "You have to learn that this world will not give you anything for free. We will not find a place where we can just live picking flowers and sunbathing. We have to fight. You have to fight. Sam's right. Go to sleep and cry all that you want to, but after that, prepare yourselves. If the people that have died today, instead of women and kids would have been others. If today Sammie, Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Daryl or Maggie had died, what would you do? You can't always live with someone willing to protect you. Because sometimes, the right people aren't there. Like wasn't there today."

Maggie looks at her with a mix of sadness and approval, and so did Glenn. She nods and clears her throat.

"Good night," she ends, and grabs Emma from beneath her arms and raised her until she surrounded her neck with her arms. When she gets to Rick, she looks him dead in the eye. "When I'm done tucking her in, I need to tell you something," she says quietly and then takes off to her apartment. She had another bed she could use for her.

* * *

When she laid her on the bed, she rubbed her eyes and looked at her.

"Are you ok, Vicky?" she asks, her curly brown hair scattered all around the pillow.

"Yeah, honey." The next question got stuck in her throat , but she managed to say, "Are you, Emma?" She presses her lips and looks at her concentrated, like if she was thinking exactly what to say.

"I'm sad for mommy. Sammie told me she's gone with the angels, but I want her to come back."

'With the angels? Oh fuck, Sam why did you say that?'

"Look, sweetie, your mommy hasn't gone with the angels because she wanted to. She had an accident. And she got hurt. So the angels came for her, so she can be fine in heaven, with them. She can't come back, it's a rule."

The girl frowns while she processed the information. She felt like crap for lying like this, making her believe in angels when she just said that everyone should be stronger. But she was so pure, so innocent, that saying to her 'Sorry, your mommy got hot by a psycho and for avoiding her to turn into a zombie, someone blew up her head' was too cruel, too harsh. The angels shit was better.

"Did any of the bad men hurt her?"

"Bad men? Oh, you mean walkers," she says when she understood it. She moves closer to her, running her fingers through her hair slowly, caressing her head. "No, honey. It wasn't one of them. You remembered the man I told you about?" The girl frowns.

"Yeah, the man with the black hair? The one you said was a ducker?" Victoria laughs silently, but it sounded flat, empty.

"Not a ducker, a fucker. And don't you ever say that word. Yes, him. He was the one that hurt your mommy. And he hurt a lot of the other people too."

"And he hurt you too? In your foot?" She looks at her bandaged ankle and then back at Emma.

"Yeah, it was him too."

"And now mommy is with daddy?" She sighs. God this was about the worst conversation of her life. And she was raised by a drunk so it was a lot to say.

"Yeah, your mommy's with your daddy now. And I'm sure they want you to smile and be happy, ok? And when you miss them most, come running to talk to me, and we'll remember things about your mommy. We'll make sure you never forget her, ok?"The girls nods.

"And who will take care of me now? You and Dar? I want you and Dar." She smiles.

"I'll take care of you. And Daryl too, I'm sure." She wasn't so sure about that, but she would try.

"So now he is-" She rolls her eyes.

"You know what? Ask him tomorrow."

"Is he mad at you?" she asks. She pinches the bridge of her nose. This conversation was moving to a strange level, and she didn't know what to say.

"He's just….frustrated with me, I guess. I'm pretty crazy." She shakes her head. "It's time to sleep, sweetie. C'mon, I'll tuck you." She nods and closes her eyes.

"Can you sing something to me?" She doubts for a moment and then starts to sing Nightingale. She made a mental note to remember some of her old lullabies she used on Jane.

When the girl was out cold, she steps out of the room and into the hallway, and find Sophia there, looking at her.

"Why aren't you asleep?" she chuckles. Sophia looks down.

"Nightmares," he mumbles. Victoria rubs her head and kisses her forehead.

"I think we'll be fine sweetie. Now I have to go talk to someone."

* * *

She steps out of the apartment building and takes a deep sigh. This day had taken its toll on her. And to think it was her birthday. What a great birthday gift this was.

She looks around and spot Daryl outside, leaning against the wall she had met him at. That day brought back a small smile to her face, but she quickly put on a poker face and walks over to him. When she reaches his feet she kneels down next to him and sits beside his body.

"Hey," she says quietly. He nods at her in response. Ok, this would be harder then she thought. She groans. "Look, I'm sorry for taking off today and basically ignoring you completely. I just lost really close friends of mine, and I needed to get out of here before I killed someone from all the blood boiling in me. And leaving really did help me. But I know you were worried about me and I shouldn't have ignored that. I felt like a bitch after I left, but I needed to leave. And I swear I will not do it again without telling someone. I don't want to push you away from me. I don't want any of that. I just needed-" He cuts her off with his lips crashing to hers. Her hands tangle in his hair and she responds eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifts her up slightly so that she was so in front of him, straddling his lap. Preferably, she liked this position a lot more better.

He pulls back first and places his forehead against hers. "Ya ramble way too much," he murmurs, pressing another kiss to her lips. She smiles against it, chuckling slightly. When he pulls back, he looks at her seriously. "Ya had me worried like hell. I was pissed, but I didn't want ya going on ya're own." She smiles at him.

"And I won't. I'm sorry. But, you have to know one of the reasons I went out," she mumbles. She almost didn't speak when she felt him brush a stray piece of dark brown curly hair behind her ear. She swallows. "I took the map from the table at the camp." He furrows his brow.

"Why the hell would ya do that?" he asks. She takes it out from her back pocket and shows it to him. He stares at her for a second before turning to the map and looking at it. For a moment, he simply just looks at it, but then he sees the red outline of a woman's name near the entrance of the gates. "Shit," he mumbles. "Carol helped them?" he says fiercely under his breath. She nods.

"She let them in. This has gone on far too long. We need to tell the others, Daryl." She could tell he was angry at Carol, but he nods, letting her quickly get off of him and then he helped her up. She smiles ahen she feels his hand grasp hers.

"Pretty shitty birthday, huh?" he says quietly. She shrugs her shoulders.

"It wasn't all shitty. I did have a pretty intense makeout session before all of this so it wasn't all bad." He smirks a bit at that, and she even cracks a small smile. "Plus, I've had shittier. Come on, let's go tell the rest of them," she says, leading him into Grand Central.

* * *

"So you're saying Carol let all of them in?" Maggie says late on when Victoria had told them all. Victoria nods and points to the map.

"Who else do we know who's named Carol? And I know that Eric didn't have any women with him in that truck," she states. She couldn't believe that she thought she had run off. "She's somewhere in this zone and she has a plan. We have to get her. She's mentally unstable right now."

"Like she's ever been," Glenn states under his breath. Maggie slaps his head. He grimaces and rubs it.

"Do we have any clue where she is?" Rick states, Victoria begins to shake her head, but the sound of the door opening and seeing Nick and Emmett step in made her stop.

"Yeah, right here," they hiss, seeing a struggling Carol in her grasp.

"Let me go!" she yells at them. Before anyone could do anything, Victoria walks up to her and pushed her out of Nick and Emmett's grasp and into her own. She pushes her up against a wall, her eyes glaring into hers. If this was a cartoon, they would be pure red.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she spits. "You let them kill innocent people all because you were pissed at me. I don't know what's going on in that brain of yours but it's not right. And I don't need you here." She throws her against the wall and she falls to the floor. She should have killed her right then and there, but she was better than that. She turns to Rick and Sammie. "You're call."

"Lock her up," they both say, sending glares her way. Nick and Emmett nod, grabbing her by the shoulders and taking her downstairs. Carol looks up at Victoria and narrows her eyes. She knew this wasn't the last of her. There would be more. But for now she was locked up. She could keep her sense down for a few minutes.

"Thank you for telling us, Victoria," Rick says. She turns to him, taking a deep breath.

"It's fine. I needed to. But if you excuse me, I need to get to sleep. I'm too tired to stay up any longer." The rest of the group send her a few sympathetic looks and she smiles sadly at them. Before she steps out, she leans up and pecks Daryl's lips one more time. "Don't you even think about going down there to talk to her," she whispers against his lips when she pulls back. "She'll try to worm her way out of it. I don't want you dead too." He smiles at her. The first smile since all of this happened that day.

"Wouldn't dream of it, babe," he replies, pecking her lips one more time. "Go get some sleep. I'll see ya in the mornin'." She smiles small at him and takes off to her apartment building. She takes a glance up at the sky.

They would be ok for now. But they needed to learn. She was not going to let anyone else die on her. No way in hell. And that crazy Carol was not going to stop her from achieving that goal.

Nothing.

* * *

**A/N: I wrote that a lot quicker then I thought I would. I should listen to Disney music more often XD Thanks for reading and review! They are always nice! Thanks for all the new followers and favorites and all that! Hope you enjoyed!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in the past few days but I've been busy with school and my other fic I've been writing called 'Fighter' And it's taken up a bit of my time. But now I found time to write some more of this. And writing these chapters always takes me super long because I like to get them up as quick as possible, but there's so many things running in my head all the time. This chapter might be a bit shorter then usual for all I know, but at least I'm putting a chapter up! And I'm quite happy to be able to get to this!**

**Another thing, thanks for all the new followers and favorites and reviews! I can't believe this story has been doing so well! I cant believe I've gotten 40 reviews, 33 favorites, and 58 freaking people following! I did not think I would be good at this at all! Thank you guys so much for supporting this story and it makes me so happy to know that you like this story! Now…**

**On with the story!**

**And by the way, the little girls name is ELLA, not EMMA! XD I got all the names mixed up in my head and put that down instead! XD I'm such an idiot. I laughed when I saw that mistake. XD**

* * *

Victoria opens her eyes with the feeling of a little hand resting on her cheek. She sees Ella asleep in front of her and it took a second for her to realize where she was and what had happened the day before. When she finally reacted, she felt the weight of the world falling on her shoulders and she jumped so quickly she almost fell of the bed she was laying on.

"Oh my God," she whispers. "Jesus Christ," she mumbles, shaking her head.

She stands up and looks at the little girl. A little, beautiful three year old girl that was sleeping peacefully on her bed. She had no daddy, no mommy, no family in the world. Her best friend was dead. All Ella knew in her whole life was this shit world. When they found her and her family she was two, in fact, she turned three in the zone. She was so little and defenseless…now, Victoria was all she had. She breathed hard and went out of the apartment, knowing that Sophia and Lexi were still very much asleep.

She walks down the stairs slowly. Her ankle was still in pain from the day before, and running off had certainly not done her well at all. It made it hurt even more, but she needed to come and talk to someone. When she reaches outside, her whole body freezes when she sees Daryl, who was in the main yard, with a lot of people around him. She runs up to them with trouble. Damn ankle.

"Hey! Hey!" she shouts. "What's going on?" Sammie was there and turns to her older sister. She places her gun in her belt and turns to her.

"Daryl told us about that camp you found. We're going to see if they're still there." Victoria frowns.

"I think you should have done that yesterday."

"There were other things to do, Vicky," Sammie answer. "And we think that Eric and his men don't know that you were at their camp."

"I'm gonna kill that motherfucker," Daryl says, and she shakes her head.

"Wait, wait. Who of you are going there?"

"Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Emmett, Michonne, Rick, Tyreese, and myself." Victoria raises an eyebrow at her sister. Sammie chuckles. "I'll be fine big sis." Vicky sighs.

"Ok, give me a minute and I'll get ready."

"No," Sammie says. "You're staying." Victoria frowns again.

"Ok…I know I call you boss every once and a while, but it's a joke, Sam." Sammie grabs her arm and moves her away from the other. Daryl comes with them.

"Vicky, I need you yo stay here and take care of everything while we're gone." Her eyes open wider.

"Did you see what happened yesterday with me, Sam?" she whispers fiercely. "Please tell me you're kidding." Sammie presses her lips.

"I'm afraid I'm not. Look, I can only trust you to do this, sis."

"What? And Hershel? Or Nick? Or….I don't know, anybody other then me?" Sammie sighs; Dary; was chewing his lip looking at them.

"I've already talked to Nick and he agrees with my choice, and so does Hershel," Sammie says. "You're a leader, Sammie. You proved that yesterday when you talked to everyone."

"I'm barely anything. I just have good plans half the time."

"Would you stop downgrading yourself and accept it?" Sammie laughs. "And you're hurt. You can't come with us anyway. And you have to take care of Ella and Jane." Victoria looks into her sisters green eyes. They were looking at her so trustful she wanted to scream.

"I ran away this morning because I was so freaked out by all of this," she admits. Sammie puts her hand son her shoulders.

"Look, you have become that child's tutor from one day to the other. It's normal to freak out, no one will blame you for doing that. But not now. All of us will help you take care of her because it's a new person in your life, but right now, it's your duty, and not just Ella, but all the kids here. They're scared, and you gave them security. I need you to stay here and carry on. Remember? Keep calm and carry on?" Victoria chuckles.

"Yeah I do." Victoria looks down at the ground. She sighs. "Ok. I'll take care of everything." Sammie smiels and squeezes her shoulder a bit before she let her go.

"We will come back, but if we don't-"

"Do not say that," Victoria says, holding her breath.

"Just listen. If we don't come back, don't come looking for us. Stay here and keep this palce safe, ok? Don't leave the zone if it's not on need. You understand?" Victoria looks at Sammie and then at Daryl, who was staring at her as if he was waiting for something.

"I get it," she says. "But come back." Sammie nods and they go back to the others. Victoria hugs Maggie tightly and Glenn as well and gives a nod to Tyreese.

"Be careful out there guys," she says, looking at Emmett, Rick and Michonnes. "I know you don't need it but good luck."

"Thanks, sharkie," Emmett says, looking at the sky before looking at her. "Sammie told us you're in charge while we're gone." Victoria nods, smiling a little.

"Yeah. Little afraid. And I thought she was smart." Rick chuckles a little at this.

"Well, good luck to you too." Victoria smiles at the two men.

"I appreciate it, guys." They nod and turn back to talking to each other. Michonne looks at her raising an eyebrow.

"That sounded like a goodbye," she says. "But I'll see you later." Victoria smiles.

"I'll count on that." Michonne smiles a little and turns away, meeting Sammie, who was starting to organize everybody in their cars. When had her little sister become so smart?

"Woman," a voice says behind her. She smiles slightly and turns around to face Daryl.

"Man," she says. She looked at his eyes and sighs. "Remember was I told you yesterday?" He half smiles.

"Ya said a lot of things yesterday." She chuckles.

"And so did you. But I'm talking about the **please don't get killed **stuff. Remember?" she says. He wraps her waist with his arms and held her against his body. She places her arms around his neck, slightly shaky. God, she was more scared then in her whole life.

"I'll come back. I said ya wouldn't give rid of me," he mumbles beside her ear.

"You better come back, Dixon," she says. "Because if you die, I'll kill you." He smiles and kisses her fiercely. She kisses him back with a weak moan going off in her throat. When they separate, she had to swallow hardly to keep herself in one piece.

"See ya later," he says, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. She nods. Looking at all the others, she sees most of them had their eyebrows raised in a perplexed face, and it took some seconds for her to realize it was about their kiss. She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, come on. You know we're together. Don't dissimulate," she says, giving some steps back to let Tyreese enter the truck to that part of the area. Maggie laugh and then one by one enter their veichals and went out of the zone. A shiver ran through her body. Daryl didn't look back and she was thankful for it. With a sigh, she turns back to the main area and walks inside.

* * *

It had only been a few hours and she already wanted to scream at people. She had given weapons to all the adults. Having a gun near you could give a feeling of safety that nothing else could provide. But anyhow, the pressure of everyone coming at you with their doubts, looking for advice, for comfort, Ella following her around…it was so much on one plate. She tried to keep everyone occupied by doing something to avoid them to think about the day before, but soon, she realizes that isn't possible.

"Where do we dry the clothes if we can't go out?"

"I'm a little claustrophobic, actually. I will need to get out sometime."

"I don't know how to handle this. I've never shot a weapon."

"Who will teach the kids now?"

"When will Sammie come back with Emmett?"

"Oh my God, what do we do if they don't come back?"

"Ok, everybody QUIET!" she yells, making everyone shut up. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. 'Act like Sammie.' "Look, we'll take care of everything when the time comes. For now, the kids have holidays today. School is closed. We'll teach you how to shoot, but if Eric comes running at you with a knife, just pull the trigger. We'll dry the clothes inside, and choose one place to hang a string there. Nobody will leave the zone today, so control your claustrophobia the best you can. I don't know when they'll come back, but they WILL come back. Be sure as fuck of that. Anything else?"

Nobody says anything, so she claps her hands to make them move, and everyone started their tacks. She hears someone chuckling behind her and she turns to see Nick there with little Jeremy in his arms and a little smile on his face.

"Nicholas, don't mock me right now," she says, pointing at him with her finger. He widens his smile. Victoria had noticed a change in Nick in the past couple of months. He had become more sensitive of people's needs and more kind. He still made fun of her like no tomorrow, but he was still changed.

"I'm not. It's just that your way to be in charge is quite different from Sammie's." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, you think? And with 'different' you mean 'worse bloody thing you've ever seen,' right?" Nick shakes his head.

"No, relax, sharkie. It will only be for today." She nods.

"Ok. How are the babies?" He smiles.

"Fine. Judy is sleeping. Jeremy just ate. Lisa is with her mom, Nora." She nods.

"You would have made a good dad," she mentions, and he smiles. "Alright. How are they? After what happened to Lily…" She saw how Nicks' face contorted in sadness.

"Well, they're trying to keep going. I feel so bad for them. But they're surviving right now." Victoria nods. "Maybe you should go and get a bit of rest. You deserve five minutes."

"You think?"

"Sure. Everyone's doing something. I'll take care of someone if they want something." Victoria smiles and hugs him softly, trying not to crush Jeremy in between them and she lit a cigarette while walking to the cafeteria in Grand Central. She sits at one of the tables and lets her feet hang on the air, letting her eyes get lost looking at the floor.

Her life had never been easy. She didn't have a loving family. Only her sister was around. Her father had been a drunk, her mother had been killed, and every single day was a living nightmare for her. She barely had any friends up until college. Only a few. All the guys she ever dated where ass's…and now in this world her life seemed to change for the better. She had another daughter now, two more kids to take care of, and not to mention she had more of a real family then she ever had in her life now. Of course she had Daryl, but there were other people. Rick and Nick were like the father's she never had. Maggie was the closest thing to a best friend she's really ever had in a long time. And Glenn was like the brother she had always wanted. Always messing with her for fun. How did her life end up like this? She needed all of them.

"Listen, Michael. I'm sick of this crap."

She turns her head when she hears those words coming out of the kitchen as a furious whisper. She could recognize Nora's voice. The couple had just lost their little girl, and they were passing through the most difficult moment that someone could imagine. But she was always a gossip, so she got closer without making any noise.

"But that's what we have to do. We knew things like this could happen," he answers.

"I didn't! She was our daughter, Michael. Our daughter! We can't replace her! And people in here are so nice…"

"I don't give a fuck of how nice they are. You understand?"

"But other kids were killed as well!"

"So?"

She feels a hand on her back and she jumps, startled. She turns around with a hand on her chest, trying to keep her heart inside it.

"Sorry," Carl says, and the voices in the kitchen stopped talking.

"It's ok, Kid," she says, putting her hand on his head. "How can I help you?" Carl was really serious and she narrows her eyes, starting to worry.

"Emmett told me before he left that you need to go check on Carol. She was mumbling something crazy before." Victoria sighs.

"Of course she was," she mumbles. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry kid. Go find Sophia and talk to her."

* * *

Victoria walks down the few flights of stairs to get to the cells that they used to place people in before the police would come. They had locked Carol up in there after what happened yesterday. She was actually going to try and have a civil talk with her to see what she had to say. She was actually very interested to hear what the fuck her reason was for letting people in that killed their members of their haven.

She goes to the last cell on the end and sees her on the bed, staring at the wall. She walks to the chair outside and sits down in it. Carol looks at her with dead and hurt eyes, and Victoria in that moment felt the tiniest part of guilt. But it disappeared quickly.

"Here, I brought as apple," she says quietly, handing it to Carol. Carol stares at it for a second before gingerly taking it and having a bite. "Why did you let the people in?" she asks . Might as well get it over with.

Carol finishes her bite and then looks at the ground. "I was just so…mad. I never felt more rage in my life. I thought I lost Sophia and I find her and I find out she hates me…and then you come along and you steal her away from me." Victoria decides to ignore that comment. "And then you took Daryl as well."

"I took Daryl?" she repeats slowly. What the hell was this girl going for?

"He loved me. I know he did. He searched so hard for her. So hard, I knew he did. And then you came along and somehow stole him away. And I thought, maybe if I took away this place, it would kill you, and then he would come back to me." Victoria stares at her for a second before shaking her head.

"You're senile," she snarls. "Ok, I've heard every single little thing about you and this group. First off, it should have been you looking hard for your girl and not him. Sophia wasn't his responsibility. She was yours, and you let her off. Second, she hates you because you never stood up for her when she was younger like you should have. I do stand up for her and I would if I was to meet someone like that again. Third, I can't believe you would think by killing me, Daryl would come back to you. Even if he did love you before, he doesn't now, at least not after what happened yesterday. You worked with terrible people who took innocent lives. Eric is a monster, and I guess you're one now too."

"You have no right to talk about us like that!" she screams at her. Victoria chuckles.

"I have all the right in the god damn world to. You killed my family, Carol! You killed people I held dear to my heart! You're the reason they're gone. I should have killed you yesterday, but I'm not about that life. Apparently you are. Rick told me about Karen and David. How you're not afraid to kill. And that's good. But it's innocent people, and it was for a stupid reason. To get someone who turns you on. Ugh, that sounds wrong coming from my mouth," Victoria groans. "He wouldn't love you if you killed me. He would hate you, if he doesn't already," she says acidly.

"I know Eric isn't done with you. He'll be back somehow. He'll get me out of here, and we'll kill you," she threatens. But Victoria wasn't scared. Especially of this bitch. She meant nothing to her.

"And we'll be ready to fight back," she says back.

"Victoria?" she hears. Victoria looks and sees Sasha standing there. "Sophia and Jane are looking for you," she states. Victoria nods and looks back at Carol.

"Have fun in jail," she says, and walks over to where Sasha was, beginning to go up the stairs.

"That was intense," she states, raising her eyebrows. Victoria smiles as they go up the stairs.

"I'm a really intense girl, you know," she says, turning her back to go find her kids. "Can you tell someone to keep an eye on her? I have a feeling she's not going to shut up and find a way to escape. WE don't need a female Jack the Ripper in here." Sasha nods, sighing.

"It's crazy. She used to be so nice and now…" Victoria nods.

"Yeah, everything's changed her. We just have to keep going." Sasha chuckles.

"Not everyone can hold on to sanity like you, Victoria." She frowns.

"I'm sick of people saying that. I'm not Xena or anything like that. I've just learned to survive from being a child. Like the rest of us. Being crazy really shouldn't be an option in this world."

"I'll get someone to watch her," she states.

"Right," Vicky says, and she goes away, shaking her head. She was scared for this zone with Carol here. But she would survive and keep her family alive.

* * *

Victoria stares at her children, watching Sophia play with Jane on the small playground in the park while Lexi was recording on some sort of camera she snatched from somewhere. Ella was next to her, sleeping in her lap, taking a small nap. Nick was again next to her with Jeremy. She sighs, thinking back to Carol.

"Nick, do you think I'm too hard?" she stays, chewing on her bottom lip.

"What do you mean?" he asks, finally getting Jeremy to fall asleep.

"I feel like I was really mean to Carol even after everything she did. I feel like a bit of a bitch," she chuckles. Nick snorts.

"You're allowed to. That bitch is crazy!" Victoria chuckles and covers Ella's ears mockingly.

"We have children in front of us!" she whispers fiercely, even though she said the word a few moments ago. Nick chuckles, looking back out to the playground.

"Sasha told me about all of that stuff with Carol. She deserves every single little thing she gets. I know Daryl loves you and not her. It's so freaking obvious." Victoria laughs lightly. The idea that somebody besides her family loves her just kind of sent butterflies throughout her body.

"I love him," she chuckles. "It's scary. The need I feel for him. Have you ever felt that about a girl you dated?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"Remember Jess?" he says. Victoria nods, knowing he is talking about his girl in college. "I loved her. Thought she was the one. Until she cheated. But up until then I would do anything. But I highly doubt that Daryl would do anything like that to you."

"If he did I'd kill him," Victoria chuckles, looking at the kids. Nick snickers.

"Yeah, you would. But he would still love you." Victoria sighs happily, watching the kids talk and play. Nick had become a friend to her, and he was the one making her feel better about them leaving the zone and about all that has happened in the past hours. She was thankful he was around. And maybe like would be a bit better for them because of all that was happening. She smiles at him.

"You're awesome, Nick," she says, chuckling slightly. He raises an eyebrow.

"YOU giving ME a compliment? It must be the end of the world! Hell must have frozen over!" he jokes, and she punches his shoulder slightly.

"Shut up," she laughs.

* * *

**OMG my computer is running SO SLOW RIGHT NOW. GAHH! But thanks for reading and feedback is always great! Hope you enjoyed!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: WHOA! Thank you so much for all the new reviews and followers on this story! Omg I think I got the most out of the last chapter I posted. Thirteen reviews on my story! That is amazing! I know deep down I won't ever get that again lol. So I'm celebrating that! And the fact I just got a ninety on my geometry test which is the highest grade I've gotten this year in that god damn class! XD So sorry I haven't updated in like forever on this story. It's been busy with life and I've been focusing on my story 'Fighter' that has been doing well. But I'm posting another chapter to this wonderful piece of work because I have off today from school and I am able to hopefully update all my stories. So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and review ! It always feels nice to see them and see what people think! Also tells me that you people are enjoying the story! Amazing! :)**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Victoria was walking up and down the street of the safe zone trying to calm herself down. She hadn't slept the whole night, waiting for Daryl and the rest to come back to the zone. Now, the sun was rising and she couldn't imagine one single reason that could explain why they weren't back there by that moment. Sophia had even talked to her earlier about why she was up, but she knew it was pointless. When Victoria was up, she was up, no matter how early in the morning it was.

When she hears the rumble of a truck, all her body shook, reacting to that familiar sound. She runs to the gates and grips onto the railing with her fingers, looking over the shoulder of a walker that was trying to knaw its way in. She could hear the motor, but she couldn't see anything yet. 'Please, please, they must be fine. Tell me they're safe and all of them are fine,' she thinks. She swallows hard when she sees the pickup appear, Daryl driving it, with the rest of the cars behind him.

"Is it them?" Hershel asks from across the street and she nods at him, feeling a knot in her throat. The doctor started to walk towards her, but before he could arrive, she was opening the gates to let everyone in. She took a deep breath and counted the faces. Daryl, Sammie, Rick, Maggie, Glenn, Emmett…all of them were there. They park the vehicles in the middle of the street and she runs to Daryl, who was taking off hi jacket. She jumps on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and his waist with her legs, feeling his body under hers. He was there, in one piece, and alive.

"Woman…" he whispers, wrapping his strong arms around her body. "This is what I call a good welcome, right?" She giggles and squeezes him harder, sighing deeply. He smelt of sweat, trees and blood. She let him go and let her feet touch the ground again. She put her hands at the side of his face, examining him. His sleeveless shirt was stained with blood.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" she says anxiously. He half smiles.

"Nah, I'm good," he says, taking her hands and squeezing them gently. "Blood's not mine." Her eyes get wide.

"Eric's?" she whispers, but he shakes his head, denying.

"It's mine," Sammie says, and she turns her back to see her getting out of the truck, with the help of Glenn and Emmett. She had a bloody wound on her thigh. Victoria rushes over to her.

"Oh bloody hell, are you alright?" she says to her sister, examining her sisters wound. She turns to the rest. "All of you?"

"More or less," Rick answers, helping Maggie to get down from the car. She had a gunshot in her tin arm, covered with a dirty bandage. Victoria gets closer to her and wraps an arm around Maggie's waist as well as her sister, helping them to walk to the infirmary. She could tell that both had lost a lot of blood, as both were sweaty and pale. "They were expecting us. We eliminated three of them, so I guess it didn't go bad after all."

At that moment Victoria considered telling them what Carol said to her the day before, but decided against it. They had already gone through enough. She would tell them soon, but not at that moment. She sees Sophia run up to them with a worried look on her face. "What happened?" she asks, staring at Maggie and Sammie. Victoria smiles sadly at her.

"Don't worry sweetie. They're ok. They'll be fine. Go watch Jane and Ella. Don't need them being alone right now, ok?" Sophia nods and runs off. Victoria sighs. This girl was being burdened with so many things now. But she needed to focus on the group right now. "What happened?" she asks under Sammie's healthy arm.

"We got to their camp and it was empty," Daryl explains. "But we found their truck. After some minutes following their tracks in the dirt, the shots started. Them fuckers were hidin' behind the tree.'

"We should be happy," Sammie says. Maggie nods as well.

"We're all still alive." Victoria snorts.

"You won't be so happy if the wound is infected," she says. "You father has to clean them. And Sammie's."

"We'll be fine," Sammie answers. "Our injuries or superficial." Victoria sighs.

"And you're ok, Tyreese?" it looks like your foot is aching again," she says, looking at the tall man.

"My ankle is bothering me. I guess it didn't heal well, but I'm ok," he say back, and she nods. It wasn't so bad after all, especially if they count with all of them waiting for them. She sighs again, feeling the relief running through her body.

"Ya look tired, babe," Daryl says to her where she left Maggie and Sammie in the infirmary, waiting for Hershel and the rest to arrive. She smiles at his tone and his words, and she sinks her face into his chest. He held her gently.

"I haven't slept the whole night. But neither did you, so….I'm ok," she says, feeling so safe and protected with his arms that she couldn't help but sigh in happiness. She heard someone clear her throat and she turns back to Maggie, who was smiling despite her tiredness and her injury.

"I found something in Daryl's truck, Victoria," she says, taking from her back pocket something familiar to a magazine. She frowns, but then gasps, realizing what it was.

"Oh, bloody hell, I totally forgot about this," she says, getting closer to her and grabbing the wedding dress catalogue. "I took it for you that day I went shopping with Daryl. I guess it's a little bit stupid now," she says, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly.

"Why did you take it?" she asks, cocking her head.

"Well, I thought you could pick up one dress and I could go there one day and steal it for you."

"It's not stealing if there's no one to pay at," Sammie says, inclining her head a little to them and eyeing the catalogue. Maggie looks at Victoria, her eyes wet.

"Would you do that? Risking your life? For bringing a dress? For me?" she says, her blue eyes looking concerned. Vicky looks at Daryl, who was smiling, and then back at Maggie again.

"Wow, oh so many questions…hmm, I guess…yes, maybe, yes, and yes," she says, without knowing exactly if it seemed good to her or stupid.

"Oh, Vicky," she says, raising her good arm and wrapping it around her shoulders, brining her closer to her and hugging her awkwardly. "That's so sweet. You're so sweet." Victoria looks at Sammie from the corner of her eye, and saw that she was trying not to smile, but was failing miserably. She shrugs her shoulders.

"Well, thanks? Does that seem good to you?" Maggie laughs at her ear.

"Sure, but I don't want you to risk your life for a dress. Although it would be awesome to have a wedding dress."

"We need to go searchin' for more food, winter and babies clothes and things like that," Daryl says. "I thought sayin' to ya to go tomorrow, Vicky." She separates from Maggie and furrows her eyebrows at Daryl.

"And what happens with Eric and his men?"

"He ran away," Sammie says. "The coward retired. God knows where he might be,"

"My ankles still aching, and that zone is infested with walkers," she reasons. Daryl shrugs.

"Well, I thought we should go to the other side of town, but we can go to the weddin' dress shop on our way back, if ya wanna. I don't think it would be dangerous."

"It would be better that you don't go alone," Maggie says. "Maybe Emmett, or Rick…"

"Rick has to stay here and take care of his children the next days," she says. "And I prefer that Emmett stays here. I feel safer with just Daryl. No offense, sis," she says, looking at Sammie. The womn raises her hands in a sign of comprehension.

"Hey, we all have our instincts. Just stay safe, sis. That's all I ask," she replies, trying to move her leg a little.

"It would be better if we wait a couple of days. That ok?" she says. Daryl rhugs again.

"Sure, don't care. If it'll make ya feel better." She smiles widely and takes his hand.

"Now explain to me everything that happened there. Detailed."

* * *

A couple days later Daryl and Victoria had set out on their journey to get more supplies and the wedding dress. And right now they were walking along the town. Daryl sends an arrow through a walkers head, making it fall to the floor. She raises her eyebrows and looks around. She sighs, placing her bow down.

"Was it alone?" she asks quietly, looking around.

"It looks like it," Daryl shrugs, taking his arrow out of the walkers head.

"Was it a lonely wolf or something like that?" she jokes, starting her way to the shop again. She looks at both sides of the street. It was deserted. It was the only walker they had found on their entire journey, and it was strange, to say the least.

"Maybe it got lost," Daryl says. "Dunno. But I think we're alone now." She narrows her eyes, looking at the end of the street. She cocks her head.

"Daryl, is that a hotel?" she asks, pointing at the large, white building. Daryl got closer.

"Yeah. Ya think it'll be occupied by biters?" She shrugs.

"Let's take a look," she says. "We already have a lot of supplies; A little delay won't be really dangerous." Daryl nods.

"We can fine a damn treasure in there," he says. "If nobody had entered yet, it'll be a lot of food, and bottles of water."

"And alcohol," she says, winking an eye. "And soft, clean beds." Daryl laughs as they got closer to the hotel.

"I can't remember the last time I slept in a bed like one at a hotel." She chuckles.

"Yeah. Maybe we can spend a night here? We got at least three hours of way back to the truck. Plus two hours of on the road. And we have to stop in the town to take the dress for Maggie. Don't you think that this would be the smartest option?"

"Just if it's secure. We have to search the whole damn place to make sure." The doors of the hotel were locked with big, heavy chains. She frowns.

"Why would somebody do that?" she asks. Daryl grabs the chains to take a look at them.

"People did this when they thought the situation was temporary. To prevent people to steal their business. I guess nobody got inside her in all this time." She raises her eyebrows.

"This is like a ghost town. No walkers, no animals, no people. It's weird." Daryl clears his throat.

"I think it was invaded one. The most part of the windows' buildings are broken. But I guess it was too difficult to enter here for them." She looks around. Yeah, the windows had bars, and the door was well closed. She points to a window above them.

"In there. I can climb up the windows to get that one. The one with no bars." Daryl looks up. The windows of the third floor and above were unprotected. Daryl frowns.

"Nah, let's keep going. It's too dangerous." She rolls her eyes.

"Oh, come on, Dixon. We won't have an opportunity like this one. I can do it. Once I get inside, I'll look for some pliers to break the chains and let you in. It'd be easy." Daryl bit his lip, looking at the window and at her face alternatively.

"And what would ya do if there's walkers inside?" he says, shaking his head. "I'll do it."

"Dammit, Dixon, you won't fit in there. Your back's too broad. I'm littler. I can defend myself. And if I see too much danger, I'll jump. It isn't too high." Daryl sighs, still chewing his lip and she rolls her eyes, taking her bag off and giving it to Daryl. She hung the bow on her shoulder, passing her arm through it and she grabs the windows bars, making sure that they were well fixed. She nods and starts climbing up, with Daryl puffing underneath her. She smiles. "Oh, Dixon, you can't imagine how many trees I've climbed. I've slept in branches. Like Katniss."

"Like who?" Daryl asks. She giggles.

"Nevermind. Don't worry, and wait for me." He mumbles something she couldn't understand. "Pardon?" she asks, getting to the window of the second floor and looking down. Daryl was looking at her.

"Be careful," he grumbles, and she smiles.

"Don't be so serious, Daryl. You have a good view of my arse from down there," she jokes. He chuckles.

"That's damn true," he says.

She grabs the cornice of the third window with her fingers and impulse herself up, getting to it. With a kick, she broke the glass and she got in, falling on her knees inside the corridor. She gets up, brushing little pieces of glass from her think pants and looking around. It was clean. Well, it was dusty, but tied up. No broken doors, no blood splashes, no death smell. She smiles. She had a good sensation. She put her head out the window to see Daryl looking up at her. She waves at him with a smile and he rolls his eyes.

"I think this is safe, Daryl!" she says. "I'll come down in a minute." He nods.

"Scream if ya need help."

"And what would you do?" she says. "The last time I checked, you weren't Spiderman," she says with a smile.

"Don't provoke me," he says. "And hurry up."

She chuckles and she moves away from the window and started her way down, looking for the janitors office. She guessed he had a toolbox. She walks slowly, looking at her side every few seconds and keeping her guard on, hearing every little noise she could hear. She just got one little startle, with a rat passing beside her, and it was killed in a quick shot. It seemed that she only had really good aim when she was nervous.

"Sweet Jesus," she sighs, taking her arrow and looking at the rat. "I'm sorry, but yuck!" she says, wrinkling her nose. She continues on her way until she found what she was looking for. She grabs the whole toolbox; It could be useful back at the zone. The reception was deserted too, everything so fucking tidy that it gave her chills. Though it was better than the alternative.

She went up the stairs again, and looks through the broken window. Daryl was in the same place, crossbow ready. He was dirty, sweaty and now that the sun was starting to descend, his eyes glowed blue as they could be, almost shining in the growing darkness. He looked like a hunter. A very dangerous one.

"Hey, woodland creature!" she says, and he looks up. "Be careful down there!" she yells, and she threw the pliers down. He took them from the floor and she started her way down the hall again, just to find him there, closing the door behind him. "I found this," she says, closing the door with a key.

"Is that a master key?" he asks, his eyebrows raised. She smiles at him cheekily.

"I can open every door. Even the bridal suite one," she says. He comes closer and his lips try to reach hers, but she moves away. "Oh no, Dixon. You have to catch me," she says, walking backwards and then turning her back as she started to run up the stairs. She heard Daryl gasp in surprise and then his steps resounded on the wooden floor behind her. She yells a little when she got to the upper floor and turns a corner, skidding on the corridor.

"Ya can run but ya can't hide!" he says behind her, and she hurries up, laughing.

"First you'll have to hunt me!" she shouts over her shoulder. It was strange. Happiness. She never thought she would live something like that, playing, running and laughing with Daryl, losing their worries for a little bit of time. It was like taking a deep breath after being under water for too long. She got to the second floor thinking, 'Please legs, help me.' She found a double door, looking like an expensive room. She took off the key just when Daryl showed up at the end of the corridor and she unlocked it. She slammed the doors open with a push just when Daryl's arms grabbed her waist, pulling her up as she screamed. He moved her till she was facing him and he lifted her. She wraps her legs around his hips and their lips met wide open. Their breaths were accelerated for the running, and their hearts were beating fast. Daryl threw her to the big double door bed and she bounced on it, opening her mouth with surprise. "Hey!" she complains. "Treat me with carefulness," she adds. He raises an eyebrow. Wow. Yeah, he was a hunter. The best one.

"I'll be more gentler from now on," he whispers, kneeling on the bed at her feet as he removes his belt. She felt a rush of adrenaline going through her body. "What were ya runnin' away from?" She half smiles.

"From the huntman," she says. "He was trying to get me."

"Hell, he'll get ya," he says, taking off his shirt and moving to her. She shivers with anticipation.

* * *

"Oh my God," she says between heavy breaths.

"Yeah," Daryl nods, swallowing. They lay on their sides on the big, white bed, now stained with the sweat and the dirt they carried. "Ya realize this is the first time we made it in a bed?" She laughs, stretching her back.

"You're damn right. This is more comfy then the floor of a backyard, isn't it?" Daryl smiles and comes closer, kissing her gently and holding her. She turns around, giving him her back. He closed his arms around her waist and she felt his nose caressing the nape of her neck. "And if we stay here, it'll be the first time we sleep together," she mumbles, and he made a sound she couldn't interpret. "What?"

"It's just that this life is crazy," he days, holding her tighter. His body was warm and wt. She loved the sensation of his skin against hers.

"It is," she nods, looking in front of her. From the window, she could see the orange sky of the sunset and a group of birds flying, their shadows against the sky. "They sky looks beautiful," she whispers. From that point of view, there were no empty streets or broken windows. Just the same old sky.

"Ya look beautiful," he murmurs. She smiles and turns her body around with a moan, facing him. His blue eyes looked at her warmly. She kisses him slowly, sighing.

"Do I?"

"Ya're always beautiful to me. Even covered in blood and gunk." She chuckles shyly.

"Well, that's almost always. You should have seen me in my good old days. I had a leather vest I loved to wear. With some black pumps," she smiles, remembering her old, little but great, wardrobe,

"I'm sure ya would have looked like someone…" He didn't finish his phrase. He looks down, at her neck. She puts her fingers on his chin and made him raise his face to look at her.

"Someone…?"

"Someone that wouldn't have noticed me in a bar, when the world was normal." She pouts slightly, looking at his awesomely stunning blue eyes.

"Yeah, I would have noticed you. I would have thought 'Wow, look at the smoking hot country man,'" she says to him/

"Nah, ya would have thought 'look at that redneck trash lookin' at me.'" She frowns.

"That's what you think? I would have lost my panties for you even before all this shit happened." He looks away. "Wait a minute…that means you'd notice me in a bar?" He smiles at her.

"Hell yeah. Ya're the prettiest girl I've ever seen."

"You would have invited me for a date?"

"I would've invited ya for anything ya wanted. I would've done anythin' for ya, like now." She smiles.

"All you would've wanted would have been a lay. And you would've succeeded, actually." He laughs.

"Ya would've liked me in a bar?" When a lot of other guys to chose were there?" She caresses his face.

"I would have done anything for you, like now," she repeats his words with a half smile. They kiss slowly, feeling each other with calm, enjoying their little time alone.

"How did I get ya?" he says when they separate. She shrugs her shoulders jokingly.

"Dunno. Apocalypse, zombies. Being a great man who treats me like I'm important to him is a good way, too."

"Ya're the most important thing in the world to me," he says, and for a moment, for the first time in forever, she felt that those words were true.

"Really?"

"Yup."

"I wish I would have known you before all of this happened," she says, feeling a knot in her throat. "I wish we had a normal life, a home to ourselves, a quiet, nice place to live, where Sophia and Jane could grow up normally." He sighs.

"I guess that's not for us. We're survivors. We've always been. Even 'fore this. But we found each other, so I guess it's fine."

Hearing him say those words was like being hit by a wave. She had to swallow to be able to talk to him again. She had thought about it lost of times, but she didn't think he felt like that too. It was strange to her being with guy talking like this. Maybe it was just that neither of them found anybody to talk to before. Maybe this was the first time they both really fell in love with someone. She furrows her brow thinking about this.

"What's wrong?" he asks, caressing her nose with his. She smiles.

"It's just…I've never been like this with anybody," she answer, shrugging.

"And how's that?" Daryl asks. "What about your boyfriend?" She laughs.

"Never had a real one until Eric, and you know how that happened. I've had some of them for a couple of months, but I always got tired of them. I never really liked them, not that I think about it."

"You never had a crush on anybody?"

"Yeah," she says. "I liked this guy, don't know why, at high school. But he rejected her. You know, he was popular, I was a weirdo. Like 'Sixteen Candles,' but without any success. I guess that's when I decided to men were just to screw sometimes and the rest was unnecessary, especially after Eric."

"You still think that?" Daryl asks. She raises an eyebrow.

"No, but I hadn't meat you back then." He smirks.

"Whatever," he says, trying to ignore the commentary. "Why that guy reject you?" She sighs.

"Because I was weird. I had no friends, and didn't give a fuck and that was awkward to the rest of the kids in school. He told me I was cute, but too rare for him. 'Kind of a psycho, gore movies fan, comic reader. You know we don't match' he said. I laughed at him. 'Yeah, I guess I would prefer a smart guy, now that I really talk to you,' I answered. I bet my life he's walker food now." Daryl laughs.

"Sure. He called ya a psycho?"

"Yup. Guess I was too different to fit in."

"And you never liked anyone else?" She rolls her eyes.

"I had a friend, but he turned out to be kind of crazy, like Carol crazy. Practically stalking me all the time. So I broke stuff off with him. That reminds me. I talked to Carol before and she said some crazy stuff, but honestly, I think she was high off the gas underground." Daryl laughs at this.

"She's just become crazy. Nothing to worry about. We'll all take care of it," he says quietly. She nods.

"Yeah, very true." She looks at him. "What about you Daryl? Anyone in your past?" He shakes his head.

"Nothin' to tell."

"Oh, come on. You asked first. It's your turn." Daryl rolls his eyes.

"I'm serious. I never had a girlfriend. Not like a serious girlfriend. I was quite like ya in that way. I just wanted girls to fuck one night, cause I thought I didn't deserve any better." She cocks her head.

"Do you still think that?" He shrugs.

"Not in the same way, but yeah. I think I don't deserve ya, especially the fact that ya are some British dignitary." She laughs and moves over to him more. She caresses his face with her fingertips.

"God, I wish you could see yourself like I see you," she says frowning a bit. "You would see everything so different." Daryl blinked a couple of time and then he kisses her again, holding her tightly against him. "We should go," she whispers against his mouth. "Look for food."

"Later."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for being so patient with this and review please! They motivate me and help me so much! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!**


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